A 'Not So' Different Story
by The 0bservanc3
Summary: A simple change in history can affect the world. Lily Potter has a hidden family history, and it affects Harry. See how Harry lives as a TRUE heir of Slytherin! Slytherin!, but still good!Harry  Harry Potter/Daphne Greengrass
1. The First Change is Realized

**We are the 0bservanc3. We See much.**

**We do NOT own Harry Potter, nor any characters seen within this timeline.**

**Read on… **

**And see how even small changes in a single life can change the world.**

**A Very 'Not So Different' Story -**** Ch. 1) A Different History**

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There is a world… a world where magic does in fact exist. Hundreds of years ago, it was decided that those of magical inclination, such as wizards and witches, and creatures of magic, such as the Phoenix and goblins, would be better off if they were hidden from the jealous eyes of Muggles, those without magic. This decision caused the subsequent "disappearance" of magic from the "Normal World", but also caused the birth of the "Magical World". Every country had its magical equivalent hidden away in forgotten corners, or hidden in plain site under Muggle repelling charms.

As with any country, a government must be made to keep its inhabitants from getting out of hand, and to uphold the laws of the land. Most magical governments were based off of their muggle equal. This was the case for magical Britain, the focus of this timeline. After the Statute of Secrecy was firmly in place, the ruling bodies pooled their resources and created the Ministry of Magic. Much like the Ministry of Muggle Britain, this Ministry had many branches that dealt with the day to day occurrences in the magical world.

But, because of the split between the two Britains, when the Muggle world advanced in technology and culture, Magical Britain was left behind. Even in 1980, where the Muggle world held wonders of technology such as the automobile and the telephone, not to mention the television, Magical Britain was still using quills and broomsticks, and had no multimedia entertainment like the television.

And as the Muggle World could become embroiled in War, so too could the Magical World. Those who fell to the seductive power of the Darker Arts would inevitably try and obtain world domination, be it solely Magical or both Magical and Muggle. This was proven numerous times as wizards who would proclaim themselves Dark Lords would bring terror and darkness to the World of Magic.

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The most recent examples would be Gellert Grindelwald and Tom Marvolo Riddle. Grindelwald, born in 1883, was educated in the Ways of Magic at the Durmstrang Institute. He quickly proved his genius in magic, particularly in Dark Magic.

After being found out experimenting on fellow students, he was expelled. After leaving his home, he went to live with his great-aunt, Bathilda Bagshot. There, he struck up a friendship with one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. The two then decided to set about changing the Magical World, and subsequently putting the Muggles of the world in a subservient position for all time. These plans would have gone forward, and who knows where we'd be, if not for one horrific incident.

The death of Ariana Dumbledore.

The sister of Albus and his brother, Aberforth, was killed as a result of a duel between the three men, arising due to the fact that Aberforth realized the other two's ambitions. Trying to dissuade his brother from his errant path, Aberforth suffered the Cruciatus Curse at the hands of Grindelwald. Love for his brother overcoming his love for his friend, Albus drew his wand on Grindelwald. The three fired many a curse and hex, until one wayward spell struck the youngest Dumbledore.

Being a Squib, one of Magical birth but retaining no magic of their own, Ariana… died. Devastated, Albus ended his friendship with Grindelwald and attacked the man. Grindelwald fled Britain, fearing the fury of his once-friend.

While the remaining Dumbledores lived their lives in Britain, Grindelwald continued his research and experiments, all "For the Greater Good". He eventual uncovered the location of the Elder Wand, an artifact claimed to be made from Death itself, and part of a trinity known as the Deathly Hallows. Grindelwald hastily moved to take the wand from Gregorovitch, the famous wand maker who reportedly held the wand. After doing so, Grindelwald set about raising an army of followers. Declaring himself a Dark Lord, Grindelwald began his conquest. He would enter a country secretly at first, slowly building support.

Those that supported Grindelwald were usually Purebloods, or those whose family had been all magical for hundreds of years into the past. Seeing this as a future avenue of support As his army grew, he expanded his reign of terror throughout the Magical European countries, excluding Magical Britain, reportedly still fearing his ex-friend Albus. Those enemies that Grindelwald saw as important or torture worthy, were kept in the prison that he had crafted. Nurmengard became known as synonymous with nightmares in the Magical World.

After years of this, Albus Dumbledore, now the Headmaster of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, was pushed to confront his once-friend due to the outcries of the public. In 1945, the resulting duel went down as the greatest magical duel in modern history. The result of the duel was a victory by Albus and a defeat to Grindelwald. Reportedly, the Elder Wand was "lost" in the ensuing chaos caused by the fall of the Dark Lord Grindelwald.

Grindelwald was then imprisoned, ironically, in his own prison for life.

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Meanwhile, on December 31, 1926, another student of the Dark Arts was brought into the world. Born from a witch who enticed the wealthy muggle she craved with a love potion, only to be abandoned by said muggle when the potion wore off, leading to her subsequent death shortly after childbirth, Tom Marvolo Riddle was left to be raised in Wool's Orphanage until called to Hogwarts to begin his magical education. Secretly, Riddle had already put his magic to use through "accidental magic", the term used to denote magic done by underage magicals who do not yet have a wand.

At Hogwarts, Riddle was seen as a perfect student, handsome, hardworking, and ambitious. Sorted into Slytherin, due to direct ancestry to Salazar Slytherin himself?, Tom created a gang of followers that would do his every bidding. As the years went by, more and more of the students of Hogwarts and even the faculty fell under Riddle's charismatic charm, Professor Dumbledore the only exception. Riddle then began to research his history.

He discovered for a fact that he was a descendent of Salazar Slytherin, and had always suspected, for he was a Parseltongue, one who could speak to snakes. He also found and opened the Chamber of Secrets, which held Slytherin's basilisk. Using the King of Snakes, Riddle, harmed many muggle-born and half-blood students, continuing his ancestors mission of ridding Hogwarts of all those who were not Pureblood. After killing a muggle-born student named Mrytle, Riddle had to stop using the basilisk for fear of Hogwarts closing, and returning to the orphanage, which he hated. Framing Rubeus Hagrid and his pet Acromantula, Aragog, for the murder, Riddle succeeded in keeping both his innocent mask and Hogwarts open.

After leaving Hogwarts, and being refused the position of Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts, Riddle left to presumably travel. After returning, he got a job at Borgins and Burkes, selling, buying, and trading magical artifacts. After the "poisoning" of Hepzibah Smith, with whom he had struck up a friendship, he disappeared.

In 1970, Riddle suddenly reappeared as Lord Voldemort, and used his followers, the Death Eaters, to gain more power and spread terror throughout magical Britain. Voldemort claimed the title of Dark Lord and systematically began to take control of the entire country. The Ministry of Magic was ineffective in stopping this new threat, and it was left to Albus Dumbledore, the hero of the last Magical War against a Dark Lord, to stop the Voldemort.

Dumbledore started the Order of the Phoenix, a group of like minded wizards and witches that would staunchly hold back the dark tide that was Voldemort. At the height of Voldemort's power, in 1979, a prophecy was made about his defeat. One of Voldemort's Death Eaters heard half of the prophecy and told the Dark Lord. Anxious to destroy the only being with the perceived power to defeat him for good, Voldemort set out to kill the only ones who could fulfill the prophecy. There were two potential families that the prophecy could pertain to. The Potter family, and the Longbottom family. Hearing the prophecy himself, Albus Dumbledore had both families go into hiding under the Fidelius Charm, which was unbreakable without the Secret Keeper's… secret phrase.

Voldemort, for whatever reason, chose to personally see to the desctruction of the Potter family. With the help of a traitor within the Order of the Phoenix, who was also the Potter's Secret Keeper, Voldemort moved against the Potters.

Finding them in Godric's Hollow, Voldemort cast the Killing Curse on James Potter immediately upon entering the home. Then, he went after the fleeing mother and child. This is where the first change in history was realized…

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**(OCTOBER 31, 1981 : GODRIC'S HOLLOW)**

"Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off!" Shouted one James Harry Potter, the father of the child that Lord Voldemort, the current Dark Lord, was trying to kill. James had felt the sudden miasma of Voldemort's magic permeate the air as the vile man had apparated into Godric's Hollow. Damn! He couldn't believe Peter had betrayed them!

Lily Potter had already made it upstairs when she heard the most fear-inducing sound she would ever hear…

"**Alo…hamorah…"** The simple unlocking spell had been uttered by the deformed lips of Tom Marvolo Riddle, or Lord Voldemort, as some called him. Before her husband had a chance to cast a spell, hex, or even a curse in his defense, Voldemort was on him.

"**AVADA KEDAVRA!" **And just like that, Lily Potter was a widow. Silent tears streamed down her eyes, even as she barricaded the door to her son's room with the most powerful charms she could think of. But, she knew that they would not be enough, it was never enough. She would defend her son to the end though! Never it be said that Lilly Evans-Potter was a coward!

"_Come out, come out… little girl! You know you cannot hide from me!"_ Voldemort taunted. How he loved this! The fear that rolled off his victims, the desctruction of all they held dear before they too were destroyed! With the death of this boy, and the other, which he had some of his top followers go after, he would be truly IMMORTAL!

Slowly climbing the stairs, Voldemort took his time in reaching the room he knew the woman and child were in. As an afterthought, he flicked an explosionspell casually over his shoulder, resulting in the room in which James Harry Potter was killed in exploded, weakening the overall structure of the house, and damaging the corpse of the dead Potter. That should put the fear into those few Purebloods who were misguided enough to defy him!

Lily heard the explosion, and had to cast a quick silencing charm on Harry to keep his cries quiet. No need for the Dark Lord to hear his fearful crying, he knew where they were anyway.

As Voldemort reached the door to the room in which the only obstacle to his immortality was "hidden" in, he stopped. How he savored this! Silently casting the unlocking charm, he found that there had been no need, the lock hadn't even been drawn! Pushing on the door, Voldemort was thrown back by the force of the hardening charm that had been cast on the door, which had also been wrapped in a stinging hex. How… elementary.

Casting several Severing Charms, along with the Fiendfyre Curse, Voldemort obliterated the door in his way. The curse would also destroy the house, after he was done with its inhabitants.

"_Well well well, did you honestly think ssssuch a paltry charm and a sssimple hex would offset me from my dessssstiny!"_ Voldemort yelled. While the charm and hex hadn't hurt him at all, it still pissed him off that a muggle-born would dare defy him again!

"I knew that even my charms could not stop you Tom, but every shot counts." Lily quipped back at the deranged wizard. Let him see if she were afraid of him! No one would lay a finger on her Harry if she had anything to say about it… unfortunately, she felt sure that soon, Voldemort would take even that from her. NO! She would do anything to protect her baby, anything!

At that moment, ancient magics, laid to rest since the time of Merlin, was awoken. Though it had no true consciousness, it could recognize that someone was invoking it. Someone had began to call upon it, and after centuries of inaction, it wished to be used. Now all that needed to be done was for the one who awoke it to use it.

Meanwhile, Voldemort was incensed! How dare this mudblood scum speak to him like this! He'd show her the might of an heir of Salazar Slytherin!

"_Ssssso, the mudblood thinkssss she isss sssmart hmm? Well, maybe you will think better of ssspeaking so brusquely to your betters after one of my sssnakes hasss a go at you. I will enjoy your ssscreamsss before I kill you. Then, asss you depart to the afterlife, know that your ssson will go through the torture of the __**Cruciatus Curse **__before I kill him asss well!" _Oh yes, Voldemort would enjoy this night. Enjoy it immensely.

"_**Ssserpensssortia**__!"_ And suddenly a very large and disgruntled Eastern Brown snake shot out of Voldemort's wand's tip. For those of you who are not practitioners of Ophiology, the Eastern Brown is the second most venomous snake in the world, and has a temper to match. And this snake was very angry.

±_"Who hasssss sssssummoned me? And why? The mate is soon to be laying, and I cannot be abssssent for it. Who sssssummonssss me!"_±The snake demanded grumpily. The mate, as it had said, was soon to lay the yet-to-be hatchlings. He could not be absent, it was hard enough to woo the mate was it was, he'd catch never ending grief if he was missing. Abruptly, it realized there were three two-legs in the room. A male, with a reek worse than the worst trash, a female, who reeked of fear and determination, and a hatchling who had no idea what was going on.

Voldemort, confident now that the snake would do as he wished, if only to get back to its mate, spoke with great care, no need to upset such a venomous "ally".

±_"I sssssummoned you. And if you wish to return to your mate in any kind of timely fashion, you will kill the woman… but do it sssslowly."_± The snake was slightly shocked. A speaker! Never had he seen such a two-legged one before! And it just had to be a dark one didn't it? He could never catch a break, could he?

± _"Why should I ssserve you? Return me now stupid two-legger!"_± The reply to the snakes demand was never ending waves of pain, pain like he had never felt before. Voldemort had cast a voiceless Cruciatus Curse on the impudent reptile, no snake _**ever**_disobeys an heir of Slytherin. After half a minute, he cut off the curse. ±_"NOW GO!"_±

After the pain had ended, and the snake could think again, it reconsidered making rash arguments and demands of the male. His mother had told him, as a hatchling, of speakers who forced snakes to do what they wanted, often using pain as an incentive. Very well, might as well start. The sooner this was done, the sooner he could return to the mate, and no more pain. Poor two-legged female though, his venom was excruciatingly painful.

Seeing the snake begin to slither towards the mudblood, Voldemort took two or three steps back, not wanting any of the resulting blood to get on him, filthy witch! The snake was almost upon her, he began to smirk. That's… when everything went wrong.

Lily Potter, mother of Harry James Potter, wife of James Harry Potter, member of the Order of the Phoenix, prized potions student of Horace Slughorn, who now faced certain painful death by snake or curse, smirked. It was time to reveal one of her family secrets, even if it was to Voldemort. She opened her mouth, and…

±_"Friend…Do not lisssten to the pale one. He liesss! If you kill me, you will never ssse your mate again. He hasss already killed __**my**__ mate! He will bind you to hisss ssservice, and force you to do hisss dirty work. You would be a ssslave in everything but name."_±

±_"Let me return you to your mate, free of all bindingsss but an oath. When she laysss, have the smallest egg transssported to my little one. When it hatchessss, leave your hatchling with him. He is dessstined for greatnessss, and will need a true friend to sssstay by hisss ssside. Shake your head sssslightly up and down if you agree, if not, I will die regardlessss."_±

Both the snake and Voldemort were shocked speechless. Lily Potter was a Parseltongue!

Voldemort's already pale skin went so white, snow would be jealous. Impossible! No mudblood has ever, could ever, been endowed with such gift!

The snake was bewildered! Two speakers, in one room! His mother had said they were rare, but now he had to decide which one to follow. One offered a quick return to his mate, while the other had made no open promises. What to do, what to do? On one hand, the female claimed to be able to return him to his mate, and in return, only asked for the smallest of his brood. On the other hand, the male had not only pulled him away from his home at a crucial moment, but had also caused him undue pain. And, he had already killed the mate of another. While the snake decided, Voldemort had regained his wits.

"_How! How can a filthy mudblood have such a pure gift! How did you steal it! TELL ME!" _Oh yeah, Voldemort was furious. This mudblood, first she defies him, then she uses a gift only select wizards and witches were supposed to be able to use, such as heirs of Slytherin. It sickened him.

Meanwhile, the snake had decided. It slowly nodded to Lily, making seem as if he were simply swaying. Seeing this, Lily smirked again. Now to distract the old snakeskin.

"What's the matter Tom, I thought you knew." Seeing Voldemort's attention all on her, her smirk widened and she continued. "No? Well here's a history lesson. In 1924, as you know, Marvolo Gaunt and his son, Morfin, where arrested by Bob Ogden and his Aurors of the Ministry of Magic for attempted murder of a Ministry official. But before that, Ogden had gone to the Gaunt's to arrest only Morfin for practicing magic in front of, and on, muggles. What records don't show, is that the first time, he had brought a partner. A woman partner."

Voldemort did not like where this was going. He knew that his "uncle" and "grandfather" were wild and insane men. Lily continued, but now a tone of anger began to creep into her voice.

"While Morfin chased off Ogden with jinxes, Marvolo was left alone with his partner. Before she could defend herself, Marvolo cast the **Imperious Curse **on her. All the action that had led up to the confrontation at the Gaunt's had made Marvolo very… restless. Since his wife had left him years ago due to his madness, he was a bit, what would you call it, wound up? And here was the perfect slave, under the compulsion curse, to take care of it."

"As you no doubt figured out, he used her until Morfin returned. Then the monster undid the **Imperious Curse** and had his son hold the woman down so he could enjoy her struggle and screams of pain and horror. Then… the Ministry arrived. Panicked, Marvolo banished the raped women, instead of killing her with the Killing Curse. The two Gaunts were quickly arrested, and the partner assumed killed and buried."

Now Voldemort really did not like where this was going. Lily's voice was now very deep, filled with rage.

"The women, whose last name was Evans…" And then Voldemort's second to worse fear was realized… "Woke up near Glasgow. She hid from everyone and everything she had once known. After living in Glasgow for only two months, she found that she was pregnant… with Marvolo's child. She could not bring herself to abort the child, even if it was created in an act of violence and violation, for as soon as she knew she was expecting, feeling of unconditional love for her child took over."

"Nine months later, David Evans was born. Born a Squib."

Voldemort's mind was spinning facts around furiously in his head. Squibs had nearly no magic, and were thus seen as near the bottom of societies ladder, but if they were Pureblood, then it nearly didn't matter. He assumed that the unnamed partner of Bob Ogden was a Pureblood, and Marvolo was, of course, a Pureblood. Seeing the "man" in front of her start to figure out her history, Lily pushed forward.

"Yes, if it still matters to you, David Evans was a Pureblood, even as a Squib. His mother raised him with knowledge of the world he could not be apart of, but he was not bitter. When he was thirty, David moved to Spinner's End, and, falling in love with her red-haired beauty, married Susan O' Donnell. Susan was also a Squib whose mother had taken great pains to hide away her magic-less daughter. Four years later, Susan became pregnant. Pregnant, with a daughter. This daughter was also a squib, and as you also know, when a line has a squib birth through three generations, the last squib is truly a muggle.

Now, less than a year later, Mr. and Mrs. Evans were expecting again. So on January 30, 1960, Mrs. Evans again brought a daughter into the world. For years, she was thought to be a squib-muggle too. Then, a miracle." Here Lily stopped. Voldemort grew suspicious, and readied for a sudden attack. Unsurprisingly, he felt a large force blast him against the wall behind him. Lily, eyes blazing, literally blazing, magic spoke only three words.

"I… Used… MAGIC!"

Still being forced against the wall by the release of Lily's much suppressed magic, Voldemort hardly had the concentration to see the Eastern Brown slither up Lily's arm, accept a large piece of her magic, and be banished back to where he had been summoned from. After a couple of minutes of Lily's attack, Voldemort released some of his own magic. Pushing about forty percent of it into an invisible shield, holding back the magic of his apparent cousin, Voldemort did the only thing he could think of to stop her.

"_**ACCIO POTTER!"**_

The use of such a simple charm shocked Lily into stopping her onslaught for only a brief second, but it was a second dearly missed. With that second, Voldemort turned to Harry, previously thought to be forgotten, and, as the summoning charm had pulled him closer, prepared to use the Killing Curse. Seeing this, Lily completely ceased the outflow of her magic, and jumped in front of her child. Totally undefended, Lily stared down the Dark Lord, her own family.

"Please no, not Harry. Take me!" She begged of her deranged cousin.

"_I warn you blood of my blood, get out of my way. Even as this latest revelation spares you from my rage, and henceforth death, the same cannot be said for the child. He is the of only two that could possibly kill me. He must DIE! MOVE ASIDE!"_ Voldemort, hesitant to kill the sudden family he had found, proclaimed. The woman would not die, and together, they could even renew the line of Slytherin! But the boy must die, for the prophecy could not be afforded to come to pass.

"Not Harry, please no don't kill him, take me, kill me instead—" Lily pleaded.

_"This is my last warning—" _

"Not Harry! Please... have mercy ... Not Harry! Please— I'll do anything..." As she said this, Lily accidentally took a step forward, and Voldemort saw his opening.

"_**AVADA KEDAVRA!**__"_

"NO!"

… And it was done. The ancient magic, which had been waiting for this moment, quickly flew through the falling corpse of Lily Potter and into the babe, Harry Potter. Voldemort had not realized this, as he was preoccupied with the fact that he had just killed another Pureblood heir of Slytherin.

"_NOOOO!"_ Quickly immersing himself in his anger and grief, Voldemort turned to the infant Potter and strode towards him. Each step increased the feelings of lose and pain that he had previously never felt before.

"_YOU! YOU CAUSED MY PURE COUSIN TO SACRIFICE HER PRECIOUS LIFE! DIE! __**AVADA KEDAVRA**__!"_

The Killing Curse flew once again through the air, struck the babe, and…was absorbed? Stunned, Voldemort took another step towards the infant. No one had ever survived the Killing Curse before, what—?

Before the thought could fully form in the Dark Lords head, a green light built up in the baby's already emerald eyes, _'the same as his mother'_, Voldemort absently thought, and was released out onto the Dark Lord. The light was the self-same curse that he had just moments before shot at the boy, unknowingly absorbed and reflected by the ancient magic that now inhabited the boy. The light struck Voldemort and…

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The Dark Lord was obliterated by the intense magic. Soon after, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and Rubius Hagrid arrived. They had realized when they felt could suddenly remember where James and Lily had hidden that the **Fidelius Charm **had been broken. While none could believe that Sirius Black had betrayed his life friends, that no longer mattered. What mattered was getting to the Potters in time.

Arriving at the Potter's home, Hagrid… and then McGonagall, burst into tears. The home was wrecked and on fire, with visible interior destruction. Dumbledore quickly **apparated **inside, and, seeing the dead body of James Potter, ran as fast as he could upstairs. There, he found the corpse of Lily Potter, the cloak worn by Voldemort, and completely unharmed, Harry Potter. Grabbing the baby as softly as possible, he then **apparated** outside, just as the house collapsed.

And that is the beginning of the tale of Harry James Potter, the Boy Who Lived….

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**READ- For reading is good.**

**REVIEW- For giving constructive reviews is a****ppreciated.**


	2. What to Do With Harry?

**We are the 0bservanc3. We See much.**

**We do NOT own Harry Potter, nor any characters seen within this timeline.**

**Read on… **

**And see how even small changes in a single life can change the world.**

**A Very 'Not So Different' Story - What to Do With Harry?**

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We left our story at this particular point in time:

_Arriving at the Potter's home, Hagrid… and then McGonagall, burst into tears. The home was wrecked and on fire, with visible interior destruction. Dumbledore quickly __**apparated **__inside, and, seeing the dead body of James Potter, ran as fast as he could upstairs. There, he found the corpse of Lily Potter, the cloak worn by Voldemort, and completely unharmed, Harry Potter. Grabbing the baby as softly as possible, he then __**apparated**__ outside, just as the house collapsed._

_And that is the beginning of the tale of Harry James Potter, the Boy Who Lived…_

This, is what happened next:

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**(OCTOBER 31, 1981 : GODRIC'S HOLLOW: AFTER THE ATTACK)**

"Albus, what are we going to do? _**He**_ found the Potters. FOUND THEM! They were under the Fidelius, and you know that no wizard nor witch has ever broken that charm without the knowledge kept by the Secret Keeper! You know what that means don't you? Sirius Black betrayed the Potters! I-I don't…" Minerva sputtered out of her emotional rant, sickened by her grief. She could not believe that Sirius Black, a life long friend to Lily and James, had betrayed them. It was unthinkable! Had they really been so blind?

Albus Dumbledore stood beside his deputy headmistress and half-giant friend and thought… scratch that, he thought hard. Like Minerva had stated, he could not conceive any other possible explaination as to how Tom, or Voldemort as he went by nowadays, could have found the Potters without Sirius's help. He, and many of the Order, had been there when he enthusiastically accepted the role of Secret Keeper. Could some Death Eater have used the Imperious Curse and forced the secret from him? No… the Secret of a Fidelius could not be taken by force. Or was it as Minerva suspected, and he had secretly held true to his family's legacy of being Dark?

Dumbledore internally shook his head. Right now, there were too many assumptions and too little actual facts. He had no right to condemn Sirius on such little evidence as he had. The Magical World was full of things that weren't what they seemed. Right now, he had to check and see if Tom was really gone, or if the prophecy had really come true, as he feared it did. The repercussions of such a course would be disastrous for the future of the Magical World.

"Hagrid?" He called. "Could you take…?" Holding out Harry towards the half-giant. He didn't want to take the babe into the ruins of his family's home, especially when the dead bodies of his parents were still there as well. All they needed was for a stray Death Eater to **apparate** here to see if their lord was finished, and Harry would begin to cry. That would not end well, even with the larger than usual amount of magical people calling Godric's Hollow home.

The half-giant started in surprise. Dumbledore wanted _**him**_ to hold onto Harry Potter? After what he just went through! He'd be lucky if the babe didn't bawl at the sight of him! But, just the same, he would do what he could. _'No child should 'ave to go through wha' lil' 'arry 'as.'_ Hagrid thought as he lumbered over to the ancient headmaster.

"If ya thin' it be okay wid McGonagall sah. Lor' knows she'd be be'er than me a' this!" Hagrid remarked as he took possession of the, as yet unknown to them, only survivor of the Killing Curse. In fact, Minerva did mind that Albus wanted to give Harry to Hagrid. Not that she didn't trust the half-giant… she did! But, Harry needed a… gentle touch after what he had been through, and Hagrid, as soft as a soul as he was… was… well… a _**half**_-giant! He could accidentally kill the infant.

"I need Minerva to scan the area. Who knows who or what could come after the Potter's home now? Everyone knew they were a very rich and prosperous House. When word inevitably gets out that Tom has… "removed"… them, scavengers and looters will come in droves to obtain their wealth." Dumbledore stated as he calmly moved towards the destroyed house, as a still very distraught, but now understanding McGonagall left to place minor wards around the parameter. _'If the prophecy was true,'_ Dumbledore thought, _'Then Tom should have killed Harry after he had murdered his parents.'_ There was no doubt that Tom, or Voldemort, had killed the older Potters. The question was, why was Harry still alive?

Scanning through the rubble of the Potter's home, Dumbledore saw very little signs of a struggle. Most damage seemed to have been caused by an explosion spell. Then, he came upon a charred door, or pieces of a charred door, that looked like it had been under a barrage of Severing Charms and the Fiendfyre Curse. With further inspection, Dumbledore noticed an imprint on a slab of wall that looked suspiciously like a person's. What had Tom done before killing the Potters? Finding no physical evidence of what went on after Voldemort's invasion besides the dead bodies, Dumbledore decided to try and see if his magic could pick up anything.

Closing his tired eyes, the old headmaster focused his magical core, and released a small, concentrated burst in a circle around him, much like the muggle sonar. When the burst reverberated against Minerva's wards, what he found both shocked, and amazed him! If he was right, and he usually was, then something extraordinary happened this night! Ancient magic was used, and a Dark Lord was slain!

By the account of his magic, Dumbledore recognized that Tom had cast the Unlocking Charm on the Potter's front door, then the Killing Curse, probably on James. Then, he had used the explosion spell that caused most of the lower level damage. After that, his magic confirmed that Tom had cast a number of Severing Charms and the Fiendfyre Curse. Then, after a surprising, and worrisome length of time, broken only by the snake summoning spell, and a sudden burst of uncontrolled magic, probably Tom's attempt to frighten Lily, he had cast another Killing Curse, most definitely on her. What shook the headmaster to his core, his physical one this time, and puzzled him, was what happened next.

By the echoes he was receiving, some unnamed ancient magic had sprung from the dead body of Harry's mother and entered him, unsuspected by Tom. When Tom had cast his next Killing Curse, to finish off the Potter line, and end the prophecy for good, this same ancient magic had absorbed the dark magic. Then, it exploded from the infant, heading and suddenly stopping at the location Dumbledore assumed Tom was standing, which meant he had been hit by the rebound. This was a miracle, albeit a bittersweet one.

Tom was gone! Not dead, for he picked up some interfering magic holding the disposed "lord's" soul from moving on, but he could just as well be for now. He had to tell Minerva! This was their chance at a reprieve from the War, a chance to rebuild the Side of the Light to a proper fighting force for when Tom would no doubt return.

"MINERVA! MINERVA! COME HERE!" The ancient wizard shouted as loud as his aged vocal cords could without the aid of magic.

* * *

**(WITH McGONAGALL)**

As the Head of Gryffindor House left Dumbledore and the half-giant Hagrid behind, her mind was still reeling. How could this happen! They were so careful! Only trusted Order members were present when the Potter's selected Sirius as their Secret Keeper. Then, only the three of them, not counting baby Harry, were there when the secret to the Fidelius was created. McGonagall shook her head to dissipate these terrible thoughts.

She couldn't think of this now! She had wards to place, and since _**He**_ had for some reason spared Harry, she would do everything she could to protect the boy!

Now to-

Before McGonagall could even draw her wand, she felt the telltale sign of someone, or some_thing_, **apparating** to the spot only a few spans in front of her. _'No… They couldn't be coming already! This just happened! And there is no Dark Mark in the air!'_ These thoughts blazed through McGonagall's head as she prepared a charm to stop whatever came down. Imagine her surprise when the only thing that appeared was a simple snake. Or was it? He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named was said to be fond of using the reptiles in his dark doings. Better be safe than sorry, and a wordless charm wouldn't cause too much disturbance, would it?

'_Diff- what is that thing doing?'_ McGonagall had begun to recite the charm that would sever the snake in two when she had seen it begin to… write?… on the dirt on the ground! Now doubly on guard, for no regular snake could write in English, let alone any other human language, the witch crept closer. The now obviously magical snake finished writing and laid on the ground, seeming to be waiting for McGonagall to read what it had written.

When McGonagall was close enough to read what was written, she gasp. The snake had not only written in English, but **what** it had written was mind numbing. In clear, or as clear as a snake could write in dirt, the snake had written:

_Female two-leg;_

_One of the two speakers had asked me to return to this place after my mate birthed her brood -_

_As this speaker is now gone, I will relate what I am to do to you -_

_The hatchling that was left in the nest is to be given my smallest offspring as a protector_

_A large amount of human magic was given to me to assure that this occurred_

_Where is the hatchling? Bring him now_

McGonagall was beyond shocked now. Speakers? Wasn't that what she had read snakes referred to those who were Parselmouths? If that was the case, then it would seem that He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named had left a snake to…protect the youngest Potter? That made no sense! _'Wait… "One of the __**two**__ speakers"?'_ Was there another Parselmouth that had accompanied He-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named tonight? Had this other double-crossed the Dark Lord and sent his or her own servants to protect Harry? She had to tell Albus!

"ALBUS! ALBUS! YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!" McGonagall proclaimed… at the exact same time that Dumbledore requested her presence as well.

* * *

**(WITH DUMBLEDORE)**

Dumbledore had heard Minerva's proclamation, and wondered what she could have found that would need his assistance? No! What if a Death Eater or some other supporter of Tom's had made their way here already! As fast as he could, the elderly wizard strode out of the rubble of the Potter's home and to where Minerva's shout had come from.

Hagrid was tense, all this yelling was getting him all worked up, and couldn't be good for little Harry, right? And what could either professor have found that need to be shouted for the whole world to hear?

Dumbledore, meanwhile, had made his way over to Minerva, and was similarly shocked at her discovery. A rather large snake was laying on the ground next to… was that writing?… on the ground. What had happened now! Quickly reading the message, Dumbledore bent over and observed the reptile, which observed him right back. What a curious creature. Doing a quick scan, he could find only a hint of dark magic on the snake, and that was rapidly fading. What was going on?

"It seems that Tom was betrayed by one who shared his abilities, wouldn't it Minerva? As of now, I can only think of one thing to do..." McGonagall waited for the decision of the man she respected more than any other. "We shall let the snake see Harry, if only to observe what will happen."

"But Albus-"

"If it should show any sign of malicious intent towards Harry, by Tom's instruction or not, I can assure you, I will intervene. After what I have discovered, a Parselmouth on the Side of the Light is not so strange a thought." And with that, Dumbledore nodded to the snake, which nodded back, and walked off towards Hagrid. Minerva was again shocked. What had Albus himself found in the ruins? If she kept being surprised, she would need a medi-wizard from St. Mungo's to check on her old heart!

* * *

**(WITH HAGRID)**

Rubeus Hagrid did not like this, he did not like this one bit. First James and Lily Potter, two of his dearest friends, were murdered in their own homes. Then, he, Dumbledore, and McGonagall find their year old baby alive after what was obviously a very devastating attack. And after all that, both Dumbledore and McGonagall go off after shouting back and forth and look to see what's what! Leaving him to protect Harry… by himself!

Soon after Dumbledore goes to see what McGonagall is shouting about, he sees both professors heading towards him. Maybe now answers would be given, and they could get Harry the attention he no doubt needed. Even Hagrid knew that young ones needed near constant care. Hadn't- No, best not to think of his little Aragog here, he'd wait till all this was sorted to go see his old friend.

"Wos goin' on 'ere Dumbledore? Ye an' McGonagall 'ave been runnin' an' shoutin' arou' since we go' 'ere. Shou' I be worri'd?" Hagrid was getting agitated as well.

"Hagrid, we have a new development. Now, I'm sure you won't like it, but we have to see if what I suspect is really true or not. Will you allow us to do this? It seems a serpent was given previous instruction to return here after the attack and gift young Harry with one of its hatchlings. We will allow this snake to do what it was told. If it turns out that what it says is true, then the Dark Lord had a serious unknown working against him, and Harry will receive extra protection. If the serpent lies, and tries to harm Harry, well… a quick Severing Charm will end it. This will not require Harry to be placed in any possible danger, as both Minerva and I will have our wands drawn and ready." Dumbledore said. If Hagrid didn't know about the snake's purpose, he might do something… rash. He had been a Gryffindor after all. And for all their bravery, those of Gryffindor were well known to charge forward without thinking too clearly.

Hagrid was taken aback, mirrored by the fact that he cradled the infant Harry closer to his chest. What was this! Let a bloody snake near Harry when everybody knew, KNEW, that the Dark Lord used them for unspeakable evils! Even as the half-giant was eternally grateful for Dumbledore allowing him to stay at Hogwarts as its Gamekeeper, and equally eternally trusting of the old wizard as well, this was outlandish and insane! (Who said Hagrid had a small vocabulary?) Furrowing his enormous eyebrows in concentration and confusion, Hagrid took a small, for him, step away from the two in front of him.

Dumbledore was, for the moment, glad that the half-giant had not done anything too impulsive. A step back was hardly the worst he had thought Hagrid would do in light of his announcement. But even if his old friend was not openly running away from them, he was no doubt seriously thinking on the matter. He had to do, or say, something to persuade Hagrid that everything was alright. But what could he say? To his relief, Hagrid provided his own answer.

"Wai' a mo'… I kno' was' goin' on 'ere. You been curs'd o' some such!" This sudden, and entirely faulty logic should have been suspected of Hagrid. Sadly, neither Dumbledore nor McGonagall had thought of this particular outcome. Especially when Hagrid raised his umbrella, which had recently been hanging from his wrist by a cord, towards the two. This was bad. Ol' snake skin mus' 'ov lef' some surprise for ye! Stay ba'!"

Dumbledore immediately stopped all movement, even breathing. He knew that Hagrid would normally never even think of harming another with magic, but this was an exclusive moment in time where he felt that that outcome was highly possible. Hagrid was holding the only remaining object in this world that truly represented two of the only people who had wholeheartedly accepted him, half-giant and all, and he was not about to let anything endanger that object… Harry. Giants had an unprecedented instinct to protect their young, or anything else they deemed precious, ferociously. Hagrid was now, aware of it or not, channeling that instinct. Now… how to defuse this situation and get everyone to a safer place?

"Hagrid… is there any way that Minerva or I could convince you that neither of us are under any curse or enchantment laid by the Dark Lord?" Hopefully the half-giant's test would not be too difficult, and easily passed. This was wasting precious time! Hagrid thought hard, his eyebrows knitting together furiously. The gears in his head were turning on a completely different speed than usual. What could he test them on that would prove if they were or were not under a curse or spell? The compulsion curse was easily identifiable, but hard to break by an outside force if cast remotely. The mind bending hex was nearly unrecognizable but easily broken. What to do, what to do!

After nearly twenty minutes of thinking, and still warding off the suspected cursed Dumbledore and McGonagall, Hagrid came to a decision.

"I wan' M'Gonagall ta spill 'er mos' embarrassin' secret, an' Dumbledore ta cut off 'is beard!"

This threw the elderly witch and wizard for a loop. Outrageous! What could Hagrid possibly be thinking? There was no way McGonagall would tell _**that**_ secret in front of Albus and Hagrid! Possible magical wounds be damned! Dumbledore was likewise wondering what his Gamekeeper was thinking. Cut off his precious beard! Only as a last resort… or for the Greater Good… and since this circumstance met neither requirement, the he was not inclined to follow Hagrid's order.

"WHAT! RUBEUS HAGRID! I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT YOU WOULD DEMAND SUCH TERMS FROM US! US OF ALL PEOPLE!" McGonagall exploded. She was incensed beyond belief at the gall of the half-giant. Again, Minerva thought about what Hagrid was asking, and only got madder.

"I too am shocked at what you are asking of us Hagrid. Short of dueling the other, I had thought you would ask us to do any number of other things to prove our innocence. But shave my BEARD! Absolutely not!" Dumbledore was also not very happy. But, while their emotional outbursts could have been seen as ludicrous in the face of an overprotective half-giant holding a magical umbrella to their faces, it was just what Hagrid had been hoping for. Had they been under some dark compulsion, they would have either complied with his demand, so as too obtain their goal faster, or outright attacked him… which would have been bad. He probably should have thought that out better than he did. Oh well…

"O' I'm so s'rry Profess'rs," The half-giant let out a great explosion of air as he relaxed, now sure that the witch and wizard in front of him were truly in their right minds. "I 'ad ta be sure tha' you were truly you. An' I am now… ta be sure! I knew M'Gonagall wou' not do as I as'd, and wa' sure tha' you wou'nt cut yer beard Profess'r Dumbledore. Bu' under a compuls'on curse o' some such, I knew you'd act differ'ntly."

Dumbledore was pleased that the half-giant trusted them again, if he had every truly not. McGonagall was worried that Hagrid had set such an easy test, for what if they truly had been cursed? They both could have easily defeated Hagrid, and then killed Harry. She knew that the half-giant had taken a considerable risk in trusting them in these uncertain times, but was glad he had. But she was still angry at what Hagrid had demanded! While McGonagall went from fuming to accepting and back again, Hagrid slowly walked over to where the Eastern Brown was laying. Best to get this over with.

As all this was going on, the Eastern Brown, whose name was Seris, was watching the two-legs, exasperated by their idiocy. Had he wanted to kill the redheaded speakers hatchling, he would have tried by now. Two-legs were just plain stupid sometimes. After a short argument, and a yelling from the female two-legs, the giant two-legged one lumbered over to him. Finally!

Hagrid slowly set young Harry on the ground, while Dumbledore and McGonagall drew their wands and aimed them at Seris. ±_'Oh Pleassse.'_± Seris thought. These two-legs were so serious and tense, they needed to relax. Slowly making his way towards the infant, Seris felt the unfamiliar sense of human magic building inside him. While it was alien to him, it felt warm, and not at all unpleasant. Reaching the boy, Seris stopped moving, flicking his tongue out every few seconds to taste the air, and also the hatchling in front of him. Yes… this was the same hatchling that the red-haired speaker had asked him to help protect. The instinct to protect young was slightly unknown to him. His kin usually abandoned their hatchlings after they hatched, leaving them to survive on their own. His own mother had been an exception to this, raising him and his six hatch-mates through their "childhoods".

Carefully, as not to alarm the magical two-legs above him, Seris began to slither around Harry until his body began to shape a perfect circle, with the infant in the exact center. Seris had no idea what he was doing, the human magic was directing his every move now. When Seris had formed a complete circle around Harry, he paused. The magic was pushing him to do something, raising an old memory of an ancient ceremony that he was supposed to do. Suddenly, it came to him… a Binding. The magic wanted him to perform a Binding between his hatchling and this small two-leg. Now Seris began to worry. The Binding was what a magical two-leg would use to create a link between him or her and an animal. It allowed the magical to store magic of any sort in said animal, for further use and/or to give the animal special traits.

But the Binding was also dangerous for this same animal. A magical two-leg could use the bond to cause terrible pain to his or her bonded. Usually, Seris would not care what a magical two-leg did with his or her bonded. But… this was his hatchling, and his mother's strange protective instinct had been passed onto him. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the decision to stop was not really up to him anymore. Now that he had thought of the ceremony, and how it was performed, the magic in him forced his body to begin.

With a burst of the magic, the only unhatched egg of his mates clutch was summoned to Seris. With a nudge, Seris sent the egg slowly rolling to Harry's feet. When it had stopped swaying back and forth, Seris's body began to move, still keeping to the circle he had earlier created. The magic coursed through his body, making Seris feel as never before. Then, it made him speak.

±_"Young hatchling… I Sssserissss of the Great and Proud Race of the Sssserpentssss… here do by magic mosssst ancient and pure, bind my lassst hatchling to you. I do thissss of my own free will and of sssound mind. He will be your firssst companion, but never your lassst. He will protect you from any danger, and will hold any sssecret."_± As Seris preformed the ceremony, great amounts of the magic inside of him were being unleashed, flying into and through both Harry and the egg. The observing wizards and witch were speechless. The snake was circling Harry, hissing who knows what, and magic at levels that should not be seen in any animal short of a true magical one, such as a Phoenix or Unicorn, was bursting from it.

±_"In accordance of with the lawsss of our Mother Earth and Her magic, from which your power, and our livessss ssspring from, I hereby Bind this hatchling to you for life! Never can thisss be sssevered unless you or he diesss. Now hatch, my offs sssspring, and greet your life-friend!"_±With the ending of the ceremony, most of the magic left in Seris shot out and struck the egg. Instead of obliterating it into hundreds of shards of shell and goo, the magic was merely absorbed by the egg. With this done, Seris broke the circle, and tired as he had never been before, was suddenly banished back to his mate and remaining offspring by the last of the magic that resided in him. He hoped the small two-leg grew and took care of his young one.

With the snake gone, McGonagall and Dumbledore sprang into action. McGonagall began casting as many diagnostic spells on Harry as her friend Poppy, the Nurse and Matron of Hogwarts, had taught her. Dumbledore began laying the most advanced wards around them as he could. The snake may not have intentionally harmed Harry, but that magic it had done was sure to have been felt by every magical resident of Godric's Hollow. This was potentially problematic. Hagrid once again raised his umbrella and began to fugitively scan for possible threats.

McGonagall gave a small wail, and both Dumbledore and Hagrid, now forgetting his scanning, jumped to her side. Worried by what she could have found, both wizards looked at the infant Harry, trying to discern what caused McGonagall to shout. Harry looked to be fine, no limbs falling off or skin peeling off. No suspicious lights in his eyes or glowing aura of dark magic to be alarmed of. Before Dumbledore could ask what had scared his deputy headmistress, he saw the problem. The small snake egg was HATCHING! A large crack snapped into existence down the right side of the egg, and it began to wobble on its base. Hagrid, frightened of some sudden danger, made to spirit away young Harry. Dumbledore, anticipating this reaction, laid his hand on the half-giant's rather large arm, stopping him from snatching the small babe from the egg. Confused, Hagrid looked to the wizard he trusted most in the world for an explanation.

"Let us see what will come of the snake's little show. I cannot feel any trace of dark magic or intentions from the egg and am curious as to what the point of all that was. As none of us are Parselmouths, we cannot know what the snake said before it left, but no threatening action was taken against Harry or us. Have faith Hagrid. We will once again stand guard as this develops and protect Harry."

Not happy, Hagrid snorted, but took a step back. Dumbledore and McGonagall again drew their wands and pointed them at the egg, prepared for anything… they hope. More and more cracks appeared on the egg, and a faint odor of lilies wafted up to the observing wizards and witch from a hole that appeared alongside one of these cracks. Not understanding the significance of the smell of lilies, none of the three watching that night would realize until years later the secret of Lily Potter. After three minutes of watching the egg crack and shake, a small tail began to protrude from a widening hole near the bottom of the egg. With his tail out, the newborn hatchling shook furiously, wishing to be free of his tiny prison. With a last quake, the eggshell split in two and the snake was officially born.

Blinking, the hatchling flicked out its tongue, instinctively wanting to know what was around it. It sensed that there were three large two-legged creatures surrounding it, and promptly froze. Looking down at the tiny newborn, Dumbledore also blinked. The hatchling had with no warning, froze, making no movement. Had it been frightened? After waiting for it to move for some odd minutes, McGonagall gave a frustrated grunt and stalked off. All this worry over a frozen hatchling! As she moved away, Hagrid took a step forward, wanting to see the little bugger that had just been brought into the world. The poor thing looked terrified!

"Profess'r Dumbledore sir, I thin' ye be scarin' the li'l bugger. It was jus' born ye kno'. It 'as no idea wha' we are an' wha' we mean ta do ta it. Take a step back no' an' le's see wa' 'appens." Hagrid explained to the old wizard. For most people, the actions and behaviors of creatures that weren't human were mysteries. But for Hagrid, who had worked with creatures, both normal and magical alike, since childhood, and keep some himself, these behaviors were easy to understand. Dumbledore, knowing that Hagrid had this natural way with most creatures of the world, followed his advice and retreated slightly from the hatchling. It presented little threat to Harry as it was.

Feeling one, then the other two two-legs slightly move back from him, the hatchling "unfroze" and resumed tasting the air. What a strange world it had been born into. Then, as if pulled by an unknown force, the hatchling turned and gazed at a rather small two-leg… and felt the Bond solidify. Just having been born, the hatchling knew nothing of Binding, nor speakers, nor magical two-legs and those that were not. What it did know was that the small two-leg in front of him was more important than the world. Testing out its new muscles, the little snake made wobbly progress closer and closer to Harry. Reaching his toes, the newborn snake began what it knew would be a tiring climb up to the two-legs head.

Alarmed that the small snake was suddenly climbing Harry, Dumbledore reached for his wand, which he had put away after the larger snake had disappeared. Hagrid was now the one that held the arm that was reaching out. Dumbledore looked into the eyes of the half-giant, and read the look of mirth that resided in them. If Hagrid thought that a snake climbing on Harry as an infant was safe., then as long as Harry made no sudden moves, he assumed that it was safe. Now, to make plans for Harry. He needed a place to stay, to live, to enjoy his childhood. For Dumbledore knew for sure now that prophecy had come true. Neither Hagrid nor McGonagall had noticed, but a small scar had been etched into right side of Harry's forehead. Voldemort had marked his equal, as the prophecy had foretold. And that meant that he was not truly dead, as suspected, and would rise again. Until then, Harry had to be kept safe, away from all influences magical, as not to be corrupted by those who would try and turn him from the Light. He was their only hope.

"Hagrid, I want you to stay here and watch Harry and the… snake. If it does anything suspicious, take it and destroy it. Nothing can endanger Harry. McGonagall and I will be elsewhere and will contact you when we have everything set. Until then…" Dumbledore moved off towards McGonagall, and when he had her attention, they both **apparated **away, leaving Hagrid all alone with a year old infant with a small snake climbing on him.

* * *

**(NOVEMBER 1, 1981 : NUMBER 4 PRIVET DRIVE, LITTLE WHINGING, SURREY, ENGLAND : THE NEXT DAY)**

Away from the terrible and horrific events that occurred in Godric's Hollow, a small muggle family of three were waking up for the day the next morning. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense. But unfortunately for them, today would be a very strange and mysterious day. As the Dursleys were waking up, Mr. Dursley, whose name was Vernon, lumbered down to the kitchen and grouchily made himself a cup of coffee. His wife, Petunia, had spent all night keeping their son, Dudley, happy. The little "wonder" was a year old and still wanted to be rocked to sleep nearly every night. When this happened, Petunia was always testy the next morning, and in an effort to continue life in relatively good health, Vernon would let her sleep as much as she wanted to.

Turning on the telly, Vernon was immediately greeted by a rather distressed newsman discussing strange flight patterns of owls? With a _**bah**_, Vernon Dursley finishes his coffee, goes upstairs to get dressed, and goes to work, only noticing a rather grey cat sitting across the street. Ten hours later, he returns to his home after a day at work, his wife awake and taking care of their child. After giving Petunia time to herself by watching Dudley for a few hours, the Dursleys go to bed, ready to start the next day the same way as this one, hopefully without freakish owls. But… that night…

Along the street known as Privet Drive, a very old man could be seen suddenly walking out of previously uninhabited shadows. Privet Drive, in an effort to keep its crime free street… crime free, had been gifted with a single lamp post in front of every house. This would not do for one Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Tonight, they needed darkness, if only for a little while. So, in true Dumbledore fashion, he pulled out a strange looking cigarette lighter. Of course, it was no ordinary lighter, or a lighter at all! It was his Deluminator, and it could help him with his light problem, so to speak. Clicking on the little invention, it began to do its job. With a _pop!_ the Deluminator sucked in the light of the nearest lamp, and continued to do so as Albus walked down the Drive.

Looking left, then right, Albus smiled as he saw just the person… or cat, he was looking for. "I should've known you would be here Minerva. Not satisfied to just be recon eh? Well, no harm done if you wish to see little Harry off." The cat that Albus was so calmly chatting to leaped into the air, and transformed into Minerva McGonagall, who was not happy.

"Good evening Professor Dumbledore. I can only assume you plan to continue through with this ludicrous idea of yours?""Ah Minerva, you and I both know that the life Harry would lead in our world would be no real life. Hounded every step by the Daily Prophet and its reporters, countless Houses trying to entangle him in political webs for their own benefit, and let's not forget the fact that there are still Death Eaters lurking about. No, living here would be the best for him I believe." Dumbledore tried to console his deputy headmistress before continuing. "As previously stated, Hagrid will be bringing Harry along shortly."

As if waiting for his cue, a loud _Vroom!_ was heard as Rubeus Hagrid descended below the cloud line on a magical flying motorcycle. The half-giant seemed to be enjoying the ride as he executed some rather dangerous looking maneuvers on the cycle. McGonagall gasp as Hagrid made a particularly sharp turn to level out from a large loop.

"Do you think it wise, to trust Hagrid with something as important as this? Why not have Arthur, or even Alastor, take charge of Harry?" McGonagall usually had more trust in Hagrid, but with some things, the half-giant acted like a child with a new toy. And as Albus had said, Harry was too important to lose.

Dumbledore only answered in typical Dumbledore fashion, a twinkling of the eyes and, "Ah Minerva, I would trust Hagrid with my life."

By this time, Hagrid had decided to land, and came in with a roaring finish. The backend and bottom of the motorcycle sparked blue and green as the magic that kept it flying was forced to work overtime as the inept-at-driving/flying half-giant tried his best to stop the motorcycle. Or maybe the sparks were caused by Hagrid dragging the back half of the motorcycle on the ground, acting as a braking system. Anyway, after a very long skid, the magical motorcycle and its two passengers finally came to a stop with Hagrid making the cheery greeting, "Profess'r. Dumbledore, sir. Profess'r M'Gonagall, ma'am! Good evening'!"

"I trust there were no troubles Hagrid?" Dumbledore asked.

"Oh no sir. 'ad to wait till the li'l snake wa' nice an' comfy, but I got 'im ou' all righ' 'efore the Muggles started swarmin' around." The half-giant reassured. "Li'l tyke fell asleep as we 'ere flyin' o'er Bristol." Getting out of the motorcycle, Hagrid carefully handed Harry to Dumbledore. "Try no' to wake 'im. There you go." Hagrid had found a small basket, and had swaddled up Harry and placed him inside.

"Albus, do really think it's safe leaving him with these people? I've watched them all day. There're the worst sort of Muggles imaginable. They really are-" McGonagall tried to object. "The only family he has." But Dumbledore would not listen to his deputy. As Dumbledore and McGonagall walked the last few steps to Number 4, she noticed the newborn snake had found its way up to Harry's chest. Knowing that the Dursley's would try to kill the thing without any real reason to, McGonagall preformed a small, but world changing transfiguration. With a flip of her stealthily drawn wand, McGonagall changed the snake into a pure silver necklace, which she then silently magicked around Harry's neck. She then applied a very heavy non-removal spell and a slight stinging spell that would keep anyone but Harry from taking the necklace from him.

Stopping at the porch, Dumbledore tenderly laid the infant Harry down and, not noticing, or not believing any harm done by, the necklace, placed a single letter on his chest. Turning, he went to comfort the now crying Hagrid. "There there Hagrid, its not really goodbye after all. You'll see Harry plenty of times after he comes to Hogwarts."

With that, Dumbledore bids goodnight to his deputy and his gamekeeper, and **apparates** away. Hagrid, still sniffling, kick starts the motorcycle and with a mumble of, "Bett'r get this back,", flies away. McGonagall, unlike her two comrades, was not quite done tonight. Looking at the snake-that-was-also-a-necklace, she placed one more spell on it. She connected Harry's just immerging magical core to the necklace by just the smallest sliver. As the boy grew, his magic would be slightly siphoned off by the necklace, and when he could, Harry would be able to transfigure the snake back into it original form, and it would already be a magic filled familiar.

Now, one last thing to do. Letting our a particular low-pitch magical hum that only magical people or squibs could hear, McGonagall waited. Soon enough, Petunia Dursley opened the door to Privet Drive Number 4 and looked to see what was making that strange noise. She would later wish she hadn't. Standing there was the same woman who had come and told her sister that the freakish things she could do were things of magic. This was the woman who had ripped her sister away, and left her with only two sentences…

**(SMALL FLASHBACK TO LILY'S ACCEPTANCE LETTER'S ARRIVAL DAY)**

"… and that is why you shall be coming to Hogwarts. Any relevant questions Ms. Evans?" A younger McGonagall asked. She was always surprised how many muggleborns there were every year starting Hogwarts.

"I have one." Said Petunia Evans. "Can I come too? I wish to learn." She was slightly frightened by what her sister could do in moments of anger or fear, but the school the woman was describing sounded like a place of wonders. She wanted to go too. If Lily could, then so could she! McGonagall turned to the other young girl in the house. Unlike Lily, this girl had black hair and had no distinguishable traits.

"I'm terribly sorry dear, but you are only a muggle, and muggles do not have any magic. As sad as the fact is, you will never see Hogwarts. Good day." And with that, McGonagall left the Evans's residence and disappeared around a corner. Petunia was stricken. She wasn't good enough! Her sister was a FREAK, and she gets special treatment! This is what started Petunia Evans's hatred of magic.

**(END FLASHBACK)**

"YOU-" Petunia Dursley hissed, even as she turned pale in fright.

"Yes, me. Now listen hear Mrs. Dursley. This child is your nephew. Everything you need to know is in the letter on his chest. If I find ONE scratch on the boy when I come to check on him, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement will not have enough body parts to go on to call what I will do to you a homicide! Do I make myself CLEAR!" McGonagall was in full professor yelling mode, and it worked, Petunia was scared stiff. With a tsk and a quick whisper of "**Obliviate**", McGonagall erased enough of the memory to leave only a very strong sense of 'do not let Harry come to harm'. With that, McGonagall finally left Privet Drive Number 4.

She didn't see that Petunia Dursley was still slightly dazed from the Memory Charm. She also didn't see that because of this daze, Petunia closed the door without bringing Harry inside.

So there sat Harry James Potter. One year old, orphaned, with a magical snake-necklace, alone on a porch in Surrey, England. What a way to start a legend.

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**Read - For reading is good.**

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	3. Harry Goes to School & a Mother's Love

**We are the 0bservanc3. We See many timelines.**

**We do NOT own Harry Potter, nor any characters seen within this timeline.**

**Read on… **

**And see how even small changes in a single life can change the world.**

**A Very 'Not So Different' Story - Harry Goes to School and Mother's Love**

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We left our story at this particular point in time:

_With a tsk and a quick whisper of "__**Obliviate**__", McGonagall erased enough of the memory to leave only a very strong sense of 'do not let Harry come to harm'. With that, McGonagall finally left Privet Drive Number 4._

_She didn't see that Petunia Dursley was still slightly dazed from the Memory Charm. She also didn't see that because of this daze, Petunia closed the door without bringing Harry inside._

_So there sat Harry James Potter. One year old, orphaned, with a magical snake-necklace, alone on a porch in Surrey, England. What a way to start a legend._

This, is what happened next:

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**(SEPTEMBER 1, 1985 : PRIVET DRIVE NUMBER 4)**

"U! Get up! NOW! If your late for your first day of school boy… you'll not get breakfast for a week!" This may seem like a terrible thing to say to a child, borderline abuse if said threat was carried out, but for a boy living under a cupboard, it was an everyday occurrence.

If he didn't get out of bed when his uncle, Vernon Dursley said, then some punishment or other would be meshed out. They usually related to food, since his uncle was a voracious eater, and purposefully withholding someone's meal to him was the worst punishment imaginable.

To a five year old though, it merely meant another day were he went hungry till lunch, or maybe dinner. Although by what his uncle had just screamed through the house, it seemed he was going to school today.

He knew what a school was, as he had read about them in what few books were laying around the house… but _**he**_ was going to one?

What a strange thought… actually leaving his cupboard for more than the amount of time it took to go to the loo or scarf down table scraps.

"BOY!" Quickly throwing off the shreds of clothe that served as his covers, a smallish boy, moderately malnourished, though he would not know what that was for a few years yet, burst out of the cupboard under the stairs that was his room.

As quietly as possible, he tip-toed down the hall to the kitchen, hoping against hope that Dudley was already eating, and would not be able to openly thump his arms till they bruised, like he did every morning.

Luck was on the boy's side today… Dudley was already shoveling piles of bacon into his gullet, hardly sparing his cousin a second, or a first for that matter, thought.

This is how we begin the first real days of for… this boy. The same boy who owned next to nothing of his own, not even his clothes, which were his cousin's hand-me-downs. The only thing the boy DID own was a pure silver necklace that mysteriously grew as he did.

Of coarse, because it looked valuable, his uncle had tried numerous times since he was no doubt a baby to remove the piece from his neck in order to sell it for some quick cash. Fortunately for the boy, and unfortunately for his uncle, the necklace never would come off.

When Vernon tried pulling on it, he would yelp out in sudden pain as if his hand was stung by a bunch of insects. He would then throw the boy in the cupboard, mumbling about freakish boys and their freakish things.

Upon reaching the small stool that he was forced to use as his table chair, the five year old sat down, wondering if his aunt would be fair today and actually give him breakfast. His uncle wasn't the only one that could take away breakfast for the smallest things.

Luck seemed to smile on him yet again. Bearing a plate laden with pancakes and three pieces of bacon, his aunt came around the table and placed said food in front of him.

Grabbing at the knife and fork to dig into the verifiable feast, the boy moved to begin eating it… only to have his hands smacked away by the very woman who placed it there. Looking into the pinched face of his aunt, the child wondered what new cruelty this was?

"Now understand this you freak… this will be the biggest waste of food I will ever make again! From here on out, you will be making breakfast. I will leave a list of everything that needs to be made by the time Vernon and I wake up, and if it isn't on the table steaming, then so help me…" Getting worked up, the woman took a calming breath, then began again.

"This will be your first day out of this house freak. If you give even a hint that you aren't normal, that's it! NO more school, no more breakfast, and NO MORE LEAVING THE CUPBOARD!" Gulping at the severity of this new punishment, the frightened child slowly nodded his head in understanding.

What could he possibly do to seem… not normal? Seeing the desired look on her "nephew's" face, Petunia continued.

"You will follow my Dudley-wuddley until he gets you to the office of the school. From there, one of the grown-ups will take you to your class. A class is a group of people that are at a particular place to learn. You will do what any adult tells you, and you will do nothing else… am I understood?" Shaking his head emphatically, the boy timidly started eating only after his aunt had turned and walked back to the stove.

What a day, first given an abnormally large breakfast, then told he would be making breakfast from here on out, then told he was going out in public! And the day had only just begun! What else could/would happen?

After breakfast, and when the two boys had washed up and got dressed, both Dudley and the boy headed out to the bus stop. Before the boy could completely escape his prison, if only temporarily, his aunt grabbed him.

Turning him to face her, Petunia glared at the little thing in front of her. Four years she had taken care of this free-loading brat, and now she had to send it to school! Why was the world so unfair?

As that particular thought flitted about in the woman's mind, a fuzzy memory of a very old woman came to mind. All that Petunia could remember was that this woman was dangerous and that she was not allowed to physically "guide" her "nephew".

Squeezing it's arms, she glared into it's eyes and gave one last command before sending it off to fend for itself.

"And if any one asks you what your name is…not that they likely will, who would want to speak to something like you? You are to tell them that you are called Harry James Potter. Or Harry Potter. Never tell them what we call you… for if you do, and I hear of it, I will hand you over to Vernon and his belt! Do you hear me!"

Shaking his head once again, not knowing that this was only a vastly empty threat, since his aunt now remembered that should any harm come to the boy, the dangerous woman would do… something... something terrible, the now named Harry was thrust out the door, and pushed down the steps.

Turning to look at his aunt, Harry only saw the slamming of the door as she closed it in his face.

Harry James Potter… Harry Potter… he liked it. It felt… right, fitting even. The boy, forever to now be called, as he should have always been in the first place, Harry Potter, left to follow his bloated cousin. What would this day bring next?

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**(STOCKTON PRIMARY SCHOOL : LITTLE WHINGING : SURREY, ENGLAND)**

Harry was in awe. The outside world was beautiful! How could he bear to stay in his cupboard anymore knowing this world of wonders lay just outside? He would have to do anything in his power to get another chance at being out in this.

These and related thoughts were whizzing through the young boy's head at neck breaking speed, while Harry's head was literally snapping his neck from side to side trying to take in as much aesthetic sensations as his eyes could handle.

His cousin, the fat oaf, merely looked at his in disgust, and trudged off to school.

Soon, Harry and Dudley arrived at the school, amazingly only a forty minute walk from Number Four. It was a giant, imposing structure, with a plaster façade that made it seem like a medieval castle.

The front "gates" were open wide, no doubt to give off feelings of greeting and cheer… which were squashed by the shear dullness of the building.

Even with his newfound wonder of the world, Harry already did not like the place. It had a sense of confinement, much like his cupboard. Suddenly, a feeling of dread settled on Harry.

This was the place where he was to go every_day_ now? It was like trading the prison of the cupboard for another! Panic soon followed the dread, and Harry began to seriously consider, not for the first time, running away from his life.

How hard could it be, living on one's own?

The school began to take on a sinister air, truly becoming a castle of England's past. The ramparts became etched in shadows as a chilled wind began to blow eerily across the landscape.

Harry's mind was working overtime now, and before the edgy five year old could make an impulsive decision, his necklace began to feel warm.

Odd… this had never happened before. Instead of adding to his feelings of dread and panic - a piece of jewelry you've had all your life suddenly warming up is not normal… and could possibly be dangerous - the warmth coming from the band of small, interconnected chains of silver soothed all of Harry's nerves away.

The warmth spread farther and farther until a new feeling permeated his mind. One of absolute calm and love, understanding and acceptance. The feeling coming from his necklace was so new… and nice, that Harry completely forgot where he was momentarily.

The foreboding castle of dark stone and granite became once again only a school with a thin layer of stone painted plaster on its outer sides. Harry's rampant emotions and imaginative mind slowly returned to normal, all because of his now even more mysterious necklace.

Harry was content to stand there, all day, as long as the band of silver around his neck continued to give him such wonderful feelings, feelings he had never experienced before. As if responding to Harry's thoughts, the silver necklace increased its output, covering Harry head to toe in its warmth. What bliss…

Unfortunately for Harry, nothing good ever stayed for long unless fought for…

"Hey Freak-o! Get over here! I'm not gonna wait all morning for your sorry arse!" Came the agitated shouting of his cousin.

Dudley had belatedly realized that Harry was not behind him, and had enough brainpower to know that if he did not deliver his cousin to the office as he was told, he might just get into trouble.

The warmth from Harry's necklace stopped simultaneously with the breaking of his concentration. Looking around, he realized that he was standing in front of the school, all alone, with some children looking at him strangely.

_'Better not draw attention to myself.' _ Harry thought, and went off to follow his cousin.

Inside the school, Dudley and Harry were immediately faced with an unruly crowd of children of similar ages to them. These other children were busy chatting and moving up and down the hallways, trying to find their way around such a big place.

Seeming to know where he was going, Dudley began forcing his way through the mass of "brats", and towards the administration's office.

For one so young, Dudley had become used to being sent to this place often, and so knew the way. How you might ask, could a child just starting primary school already know the way to it's office? Well… Dudley had made a habit of sneaking into the school during the past summer with his gang.

This was not for any academic purpose obviously, this IS Dudley we are talking about here. No… he snuck into the school to harass the kids who had to spend their vacation time in summer school.

Since there were numerous kids staying for numerous reasons, torturing them, even if they were older, never ceased to entertain him. He was his father's son after all, and Vernon too delighted in making the workers of his company suffer.

Unfortunately, the summer faculty were short tempered due to having to spend _their_ vacation time tutoring failing students, and when they eventually caught him and his gang, they were sent to the office, to await their parents.

His mother was always gentle with him, never yelling or tugging him home by his ears, unlike the mothers of his followers. _His_ parents would never harm _him_. He only ever got a stern warning from his father, and that was that.

After shoving aside many a snot nosed brat, Dudley arrived at the office with Harry. With a shove towards the door, Dudley left Harry… alone.

Lost on what he was to do, Harry just stood outside the office. Looking around, he noticed that several kids were ducking into classrooms, having found their assigned places. Hesitantly, Harry opened the door to the office, and walked inside.

The office was an oblong room that had five chairs for students to sit in, with a desk up front where two female secretaries sat, and a hallway off to the left where the principal's office was probably located. There were generic photos of England's famous landscapes hanging on all the walls, and a very soft aroma of bayberry wafted up from seven flickering candles placed around the room.

The secretaries were both platinum blondes. Each looked like they could have been fashion stars, with large busts and wide hips, and smooth, perfect skin with full, red lips. Unknown to Harry, both were just starting college, and worked at the school as a day job, with classes at night. Both had dreams of becoming the newest faces, and bodies, of Storm Models.

One's hair was done up in tight-looking curls, while the other's was down in two wavy curtains. They looked to be bored with their job, which was only supposed to last until they could make it big in life. The one with the curls was reading a fashion magazine, while the other was chewing gum and tapped away with a pencil.

Harry tentatively made his way over to two, unsure if they would actually help him. They looked okay, just… bored. When Harry was at the front of the desk, he stopped. Not wanting to bother the women, he just stood there. What he did not realize was that since he was so short, due to four years of malnourishment, his head barely peaked over the top of the desktop.

It would be a long time before either woman would notice him.

Nearly thirty minutes later, the starting bell began to ring, signaling the beginning of the first day, and Harry was still standing in the office. Neither secretary had seen him, nor suspected his being there. Suddenly feeling twitchy, Harry sneezed. Then sneezed again… and again.

Harry held his breath… what if this was what his aunt meant by "not normal"? Was sneezing in public wrong somehow? The sudden cracks of noise were just enough to catch the attention of the gum chewing blonde, who stopped tapping her pencil and looked up.

After taking a few cursory glances around the room, and not seeing anyone, the woman began to once again tap her pencil… when she spied a small head just rising over the top of the desk. Was that a student? How long had he been there?

Uh oh… had she been ignoring the poor thing? She hoped the principal wouldn't find out if she had. Even with this job, and the small allowance her parent's sent her, she needed every dollar available. Living in England was hard for young people who were still in college and had just moved out on their own.

Leaning over the desk to be sure, the woman was appalled to find that she really had been overlooking a child! Even if she and her friend dreamed of quitting their jobs at this school and being famous one day, she really did love kids, and finding out she had left one to stand in the office for who knows how long made her feel terrible.

Jumping into action, the blonde nearly leaped over the desk in her hurry to help the poor boy. Her sudden movements frightened Harry and, not knowing what to do, he froze.

"Hey little guy… how long have you been standing there? Do you need help with something?" She asked as she gently pulled Harry over to a chair. He only stared, still frozen.

Startled that the woman had noticed he was standing there, and she was taking such zealous action to accommodate him, Harry was effectively struck speechless. No one had ever taken such sudden action to help him before… no one had cared to.

His aunt and uncle never bandaged his scraps when he fell, or soothed his bruises after Dudley had punched him. This woman's sudden assistance was confusing. What did one do when another took such interest in their health? A situation like this had never happened to him before.

He was at a loss at what to do.

Taking his non-answer as shyness instead of shock, the secretary smiled warmly at Harry and sat down in the chair next to him. He looked to her like a new student, and probably had no idea what to do or where to go.

Because she had not noticed him standing at the desk, he had missed the beginning of school, and would have an even more difficult time finding where he belonged. Her friend had stopped reading her magazine, taking interest in what had caused such a ruckus.

"Come one little guy, I won't bite… do you need help?" She asked again. Starting from his momentary shock, Harry nodded his head slowly.

This woman looked nice, but so could his aunt before she yelled at him for something he had, or hadn't, done. Better to be polite now then sorry later.

"Please Miss, my aunt said I was to come to the office to find my classroom on the first day of school. Could you tell me where I am supposed to go please?" Harry answered. He hoped that was polite enough. The woman, slightly taken aback by the young boy's very polite and superb language, smiled.

Harry took that as a good sign.

"Of course! That's what I'm here for. Well… not so much… really I'm supposed to answer the phones and all that… BUT! I can help practically anyone who needs assistance in this place." Standing up, and pulling Harry with her, the woman strode over to her workspace. Her friend had turned back to her magazine, seeing as it was only a lost kid that was the problem.

"Now… what's your name? I need to know that before I can find out where you go." She stated.

"My name is Fre- I mean Harry. Harry Potter. Nice to meet you." Harry offered, looking for all the world like a serious businessman, instead of a kid. He had barely caught himself from repeating what his "family" had always called him, instead of what he now knew to be his real name. His aunt _had_ threatened, hadn't she?

Remembering what his uncle did when meeting someone important or someone he needed to impress, he also stuck out his hand. The secretary thought this was too cute, and humored the five-year old by shaking his hand with her own.

"Nice to meet you little Harry, my name is Annette Belle. I am one of this school's secretaries." Pointing over to her friend, "And that over there is Tamara Good, the other secretary, she's also my roommate."

Tamara again looked up from her magazine, only to snort derisively at her bubbly friend. _'That's just rude.' _Annette thought. Maybe she should take a jab at her-

"Don't mind her, she's just lazy." To which Tamara responded by just crumbling up a sheet of paper and lobbing it at Annette. The ball of paper missed her by a good two feet, telling her that Tamara hadn't taken the insult to heart.

Now that pleasantries had been made, Annette got down to finding out where Harry was supposed to go. Logging on to the ancient computer the school forced her to use, she opened the class schedules for every student in the building.

Clicking on "FIND STUDENT", Annette entered Harry's name, and hit go. The computer _whirr_ed into action, and then the search was over. The result was… disturbing.

"Let's see here Harry… hmm… Well that's odd. It says here that no one with that name is registered to go to school here. Are you sure this is where your aunt meant for you to go?"

The computer had automatically gone to the "ERROR-NOT FOUND" screen. That screen only came up if Annette searched for the name of someone who had never been enrolled in the school. This happened from time to time, the system was soooooo old.

She could easily re-enter Harry if his information had been accidentally erased, so it was no real problem. Beside Annette, Harry had began to breath heavily.

Even here, his "family" made sure life would not be easy for them. They send him to a school, just to be rid of him for awhile, and hadn't even bother to enroll him there. This was embarrassing and cruel beyond anything they had ever done before.

Harry was silent… feeling two distinct things.

One was sadness. His aunt had purposefully sent him to a place he wasn't even enrolled in. Probably to get him thrown out so she could punish him for "making a general disturbance to the public".

The other was anger. Why did his "family" have to make his life so miserable? What had he ever done to them! Would the cruelties they played on him never cease.

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In another time and universe, where Harry didn't have the silver necklace-that-was-also-a-snake that was imbued with magic, he would have smothered the feelings of anger at his aunt and uncle quickly.

He would fall into a state of sad acceptance of his lot in life and return home to the cupboard after being enrolled in the school, only to return to the school everyday to be beaten by his cousin and try to learn.

This would continue until his eleventh birthday.

Then… a half-giant would bust down the door of an island castle, which his uncle had rented to hide away from the magical acceptance letters meant for Harry.

These letters would introduce him to the magical world, and all that it entailed. But…

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As the world was now, things turned out a bit differently. The necklace, sensing the boy's anger, began to once again emit heat. But this time… Harry reacted differently to the necklace's warmth.

As if knowing that this was to be a new turning point in the boy's life, the silver chains around his neck began to pulse with magic. This time, instead of calming Harry, the necklace pushed his anger forward, smothering the sadness instead… time enough for that later… maybe.

The pulsating magic went largely unnoticed by the muggle secretaries, but Harry felt his anger at this point, as if it were a palpable animal roaring in hate, growing steadily stronger with each throb.

Due to the meddling of the necklace-that-was-also-a-snake, Harry's anger grew and grew, until he, like any other human child, exploded… figuratively speaking of course.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THEM!" He shouted. The anger inside bursting out.

"All my life they treat me like the scum of the earth, and then send me to a school I'm not even enrolled in! Those-" …and so Harry ranted, as only a five-year-old could. And as he ranted, tears burned paths of water down his cheeks, after going unshed for far too long.

Like most children who go off, Harry began wildly waving his arms around and stomping his feet in anger. Unlike the usual five-year-old though, Harry had magic.

Specifically magic that was closely tied to him emotion state, as all magical childrens' were at that age. This unknown fact started the second great change in history…

Annette, realizing that the child in front of her was going having a tantrum, did what she usually did when confronted with angry kids… she listened to them, and did not try to stop them in the least.

What she heard though… as Harry unloaded all the pain and abuse he had suffered in his short life… turned her stomach.

If Harry's rambled shouts were to be believed, and for some reason she **did** believe them, there was no way in hell she was going to let him return to wherever he had come from!

Those "people"… his own family, starved him for any and every little thing, allowed his cousin to beat on him without consequence, and had locked him away for most of his life in a cupboard! They were monsters!

Annette nearly lost her hastily eaten breakfast right there in the office. Then, as the necklace lessened its interference, and as Harry wound down, exhausted from using so much energy in his malnourished state… which was hidden by his baggy clothes, he uttered one last grievance against the Dursleys, and changed Annette's life forever.

"- And only today I find out that my name is HARRY POTTER! NOT FREAK! NOT CREATURE, OR "YOU ABOMINATION"! MY NAME IS… HARRY-!" Harry's tears became too much, and he broke down into sobs, his anger forgotten, the necklace, silent.

A now sobbing Harry stood in the middle of the office. The other secretary, Tamara, was shell-shocked. She had stopped reading her magazine midway through the kid's tantrum.

Seeing as he seemed to have no stopping point in mind, she began to listen like Annette. She was disgusted with the Dursleys but too shocked at their crimes to do anything at the moment… she needed a second to reboot.

Annette had no such qualms or problems as her roommate. She immediately grabbed the blubbing boy, spun him around, and crushed him in a bear-hug so tight, not even Little John could have matched it.

Untapped maternal instincts kicked in, and she began to sooth the terribly treated child. She rubbed his back, and whispered promises… promises of everything being alright, she was there now… to him.

Harry, never having been hugged before, at first tensed. But his childish mind soon comprehended the strange feeling that was emanating from the woman who had her arms wrapped around him. It was one of the things he had craved for… for so, _so_ long.

The feeling of a mother's love.

Even if Annette wasn't his real mother, Harry didn't care. Her actions bridged, in Harry's mind, that gap very nicely. She knew next to nothing about him… he did not recall what he shouted while in his tantrum… but still did her best to comfort him. For that, Harry's heart would always be tied in part to the lovely muggle woman who first held him when he could not hold it all in anymore.

To Harry's young mind, no matter what happened from now on in his life, Annette Belle would always be there with a shoulder for him to cry on. With a simple act…

His life had changed.

Annette too, had a feeling that her life had inexplicably changed. Hearing Harry's life story had moved something in her. What good did showing off her beauty as a fashion model do when there where kids like Harry who, every day, where treated horribly by those who where supposed to raise them with love and caring? Children deserved all the love the world could give them, and what had been done to Harry was unforgivable!

Then and there, Annette Rosetta Belle resolved to do anything in her power to remove Harry from the abusive household he was forced to live in. Even if… even if it meant going into Law like her parents had wanted. Yuck!

Then, her mind turned to what would happen next. What would happen to Harry if she got Child Protective Services to remove him from his current home? Immediately (again) her mind was made up. She would adopt him. She was of legal age and could get a full-time job to support them both. Her mind set, Annette began thinking on who could help her on her crusade.

And the second change to the world was complete.

Now came Harry's next problem. He couldn't breathe. Annette's large chest was suffocating him. Due to loss of oxygen, he couldn't even struggle all that much, causing Annette to believe that he was still only sobbing.

Luckily for him, Tamara came back to earth just in time to save his life from the woman who wished to make his life better. A most humorous paradox, no?

"Jeez Anne! Let the poor guy go! He's suffocating! Those huge things of yours are smothering him!" Pulling Harry away from her in alarm, Annette saw that he was indeed near the point of asphyxiation. Embarrassed, she loosened her hold on five-year-old, and cleared her throat, suddenly getting a brilliant, to her at least, idea.

"Sorry about that little guy. Guess I got a bit emotional on ya. Come on, since your not enrolled in school, you can be Tamara and I's little helper." And so, Harry spent the rest of the day assisting the two secretaries with any small task they needed done. School… who needed it? He could and would learn everything he needed from Annette!

* * *

**(TIMELAPSE : SIX HOURS LATER)**

At precisely three fifteen p.m., every bell in Stockton Primary School rang to signal the end of the first school day of the year. Immediately, hundreds of boys and girls between the ages of five and ten flooded into the hallways. These children had only one goal in mind after the first day of "learning" at school… leaving said school as soon as possible.

Among these frantically departing kids stood the few instructors brave enough to withstand the floods. They were futilely outmatched and could really do nothing to maintain order in the halls.

So it was truly chaos.

If you looked closely, you could see one Harry Potter, lost amongst the pushing and pulling bodies of his would-be classmates. He had been caught amongst the outpouring mass of children returning to the office. His last "job" of the day had been to deliver a note that had been meant for one of the math instructors.

If Harry had read it correctly, which he wasn't supposed to have done, it looked like Mr. McDonahue would be single again in thirty-one days. Needless to say, the instructor had not been pleased when he found out that his soon-to-be ex-wife had discovered what he had been doing on those "late" Thursday nights.

Now, he was helplessly tangled in the moving throng of kids. Everywhere, children were jabbing out with their elbows, trying to make room for themselves while their feet were kicking out at random to propel them down the halls. Harry had no chance of escape.

In under ten minutes, every student had vacated the building. The instructors sagged in relief and, as a collective body, fled for the administration's lounge to decompress after a hard first day. Since Harry was technically not a student, he was not included in either exodus. He was laying in the middle of a hallway after being elbowed in the gut, kicked in the knee, and shoved into the wall by multiple departing students.

Slowly picking himself up, Harry made his way back to the office. Hopefully, Annette would still be there to take him "home". How he hated to call that place home… but it was all he had. And he had no idea how to get back to it. He had been so amazed at all of the wonders of the outside world, he had not bothered to look and see what roads his cousin had taken to get here. And since he doubted Dudley had waited for him, he was stuck.

Opening the door, Harry entered the office for the last time that day. Looking around, he spied Tamara logging off of the two computers, already in her light blue dress coat. She had packed all of her stuff into a medium sized satchel, and had laid it down on the edge of the desk. But… where was Annette?

Dread struck Harry as reality sunk in. Annette had left… without him. It was the obvious answer. She had merely kept him around all day so he could run errands for her. She had used him, just like his aunt would use him to weed out the garden, then forced him to bed with no dinner. Just as his uncle used him to clean the gutters, then made him walk into the house covered in filth so his aunt would punish him. She was just like THEM!

Immediately, Harry's necklace began to warm. Responding to his anger and pain, it flooded Harry with it's power. This time, it tried neither to calm nor rile him, his emotions were to uncertain. Feeling the necklace burning into his neck, but knowing it would leave no marks, Harry stood by the door of the office. Why had he been so…

"Harry? I was beginning to think you had left already. What took you so long?" Came a questioning voice.

Annette! She hadn't left him! Harry's anger dissipated like dew on a summer morning, and with it, the heat and power of his necklace. Annette! Now… Harry felt ashamed for so easily believing she would have betrayed him. She was nothing like his aunt or uncle, and he should never have had jumped to conclusions like that.

Turning towards the hallway that lead to the principal's office, he saw Annette. She was carrying a hefty load of official looking papers, and upon seeing Harry, her eyes lit up like candles. He really had wiggled his little self firmly in her heart.

Ignoring the stack of documents in her hands, Harry ran and leapt into her arms, spilling papers everywhere. Bewildered at his odd behavior, Annette held him as he began to sob… again. After letting him go on for a while, she gently lifted him up. Now she was worried. What could have caused him to cry so much? Had someone hurt him? Maternal instincts once again arose inside her as she looked Harry up and down, searching for injury. Unable to stop himself, Harry continued to sniffle.

"What's wrong little Harry? Why are you crying? Did someone hurt you? If they did, so help me I'll rip them apart, child or no!" Annette asked him. This only caused Harry to burst into a fresh round of crying. Alarmed, Annette wrapped him up in her arms and carried him over to one of the chairs in the office. There was only one thing to do.

Eventually Harry came out of his bout of tears. He realized he was being rocked slowly back and forth as Annette held him. When had this happened? He soon forgot to wonder about how he came to be there as the rocking motion was making it hard to concentrate. It was very soothing, and once again, it was a first for Harry. Then, he realized she was singing something…

"…_O hush thee, my babie, they sire was a knight, Thy mother a lady, both lovely and bright; _

_The woods and the glens, from the towers which we see, They all are belonging, dear babie, to thee. _

_O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo, O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo._

_O fear not the bugle, though loudly it blows,It calls but the warders that guard thy repose;_

_Their bows would be bended, their blades would be red,Ere the step of a foeman drew near to thy bed._

_O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo,O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo. _

_O hush thee, my babie, the time soon will comeWhen thy sleep shall be broken by trumpet and drum;_

_Then hush thee, my darling, take rest while you may,For strife comes with manhood, and waking with day._

_O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo,O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo…"_

Annette had decided to lull Harry out of his tears with an old lullaby her mother had used to sing to her baby brother. It may seem a little outdated now… seeing as how it was meant to be sung to the infant son of a Scottish clan chief, but it seemed like the right thing to sing to Harry. It sure looked like it had calmed him down.

Looking at the now silent Harry, Annette smiled softly. He was just so innocent looking, and cute too. His glasses had gotten skewed off center when he had buried his head in her stomach, and his clothes were all crumbled. Looking at Tamara, Annette nodded her head, and her friend silently left the room with a return nod.

"Now, do you want to tell me what's gotten you so upset, or do I have to tickle it out of you?" Annette asked, flexing her fingers slightly. Harry didn't know what tickling was, but if the mischievous smile on her face meant anything like his cousin Dudley's did, then he didn't want Annette to do it to him. Shaking his head, Harry took a deep breath.

"I…I th-thought you had… had l-left without m-me. I th-thought you had t-turned out just like my… my "family", and w-were only pretending t-t-to care." Still recovering from his tears, Harry's voice shook like a leaf in a hurricane as he told Annette how he had thought she had abandoned him. He recounted some of what his aunt and uncle had done, and Annette got even more furious at those "people".

"I would **never** abandon you Harry. You are too cute!" And with a hug, Annette pulled Harry to his feet as she stood up. Picking up the fallen papers, her faced pinched at what she would now have to do. No matter how much she hated the idea, she had to return him to that house.

Until she had a solid idea of what she was going to do, or a concrete ally in Law, she would have to bide her time. She could not act rashly and take those "people" to court and adopt Harry with half-made plans. She would need a fool-proof strategem, with plenty of contingencies… just in case. The Dursley's, unaware of their new enemy, would rue the day they ever heard the name Harry Potter.

* * *

Walking with Harry to the school's parking lot, both were shocked to find out it was dark outside! Had it really Harry that long to calm down? They needed to hurry, for Harry's sake. Who knows what those monsters would do when he appeared at their home, hours late, being dropped off by the school's secretary? Making their way to Annette's car, Harry's stomach dropped at what he saw.

Next to the antique piece of junk that the two roommates drove to work and school in, was parked the business car that was give to his by his company. And standing in front of both cars was Vernon Dursley himself… screaming at Tamara Good in the loudest voice possible. It seemed he was trying to learn how to fly, based on how much he was flinging his arms around His face was set in the most outraged look every seen before. As Annette and Harry got closer, they could easily make out the near one-sided conversation.

"… SAID THAT ALREADY! I DON'T KNOW WHAT POSSESSED MY SON TO LEAVE THAT FREAK HERE AT THIS SCHOOL, BUT I DO KNOW THAT WHEN I FIND HIM, HE'LL NOT SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY FOR A GOOD MONTH FOR THIS LITTLE STUNT!" This was not good. Annette thought she saw Tamara say something to the monstrous man with an equally outraged look on her face.

"DON'T TELL ME THAT'S NOT FAIR! WE HAVE CHORES LINING UP BECAUSE THAT THING WAS TOO LAZY TO FIND ITS WAY BACK TO OUR HOUSE!" Tamara looked speechless, and Annette felt it. This man was unbelievable!

It only got worse, as Vernon turned every so slightly to the left, and saw Annette and Harry walking towards them. His already red face instantly turned a dark shade of purple. Harry hid behind Annette, knowing without a doubt that now, no matter what his aunt said, Vernon would beat him for this. Noticing Harry's action, and guessing the reason, Annette grew so furious, her anger could have outmatched Vernon's by miles… had someone measured.

Getting close enough so that she would not have to cause a scene like Mr. Dursley, Annette let loose a string of curses that caused Vernon's purple face to pale back to a very unhealthy red colour. After letting that get out of her system, she began to think rationally. This was a perfect opportunity to set some very strict boundaries on the Dursley's about what they could do to Harry… and make some threats.

"Mr. Dursley." Annette greeted through clenched teeth.

"WOMAN! YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO HOLD HIM HERE! I'LL HAVE THE LAW ON YOU SO HARD… " And Vernon replied as expected, but his target this time blocked out most of his rant.

"Before you try and threaten me Mr. Dursley, let me make one thing clear. I know everything you have put this boy through, and I have to say, I'll have the Law on YOU! And from what I gather, you won't last five minutes in court." Annette interrupted and countered Vernon and his threats.

"GRR! BOY! GET OVER HERE NOW!" Harry made no movement besides gripping Annette's coat tighter. Seeing his disobedience, Vernon raised his voice even louder.

BOY! DO NOT PUSH ME! YOU HAVE NO WHERE TO GO BUT WITH ME! AND WHEN YOU EVENTUALLY GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK, DUMB HEAD, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU NEVER EVEN THINK TO GO AGAINST ME AGAIN!" Incensed by these blatantly violent threats directed at Harry, Annette stomped over to Vernon, dragging Harry with her. Then… everything when to hell.

"If you even lay a finger on this boy Mr. Dursley, I will have you thrown in jail so fast your enormous bulk will not have the time to follow!" The enraged blonde screamed at the fat man.

"AND HOW WILL YOU DO THAT YOU BLONDE TART! HE'LL NEVER BE ALLOWED OUT OF THE HOUSE AFTER THIS! NOW **GET OVER HERE BOY**!" Vernon responded. Faster than a man of his bulk should be able to move, he reached around the infuriated woman in front of him and grabbed a hold of Harry. Brutally yanking him away from his would-be blond savior, Vernon raised his beefy arm to strike him.

Harry could only stare in terror as the large appendage swung towards him. Vernon held Harry in front of him with an iron grip, so there was no escape. It would be the first beating he had ever received, but he knew it would not be the last… not by a long shot. He only wished Annette was not here to see it. Closing his eyes, he awaited the unimaginable pain of Vernon's strike.

Seeing the large man's obvious intentions towards Harry, Annette let out a screech so heart wrenching that nearby bystanders, who had previously tried to remain uninvolved, could not help but observe what was going on. A man yelling was not unheard of or unusual, but a woman's scream always deserved attention.

They would later admit they wished they hadn't looked.

Flinging herself forward, Annette hoped she was fast enough to keep Harry safe from this now obviously violent man.

A _crack!_ was the last heard that night, before the third change of the world would inevitably occur.

* * *

**Read... for reading is good.**

**Review... for reviewing and leaving constructive critisism is good.**

**The lullaby is called 'Lullaby for an Infant Chief'.**


	4. What Happened & the Future

**We are the 0bservanc3. We See many timelines.**

**We do NOT own Harry Potter, nor any characters seen within this timeline.**

**Read on… **

**And see how even small changes in a single life can change the world.**

**A Very 'Not So Different' Story - What Happened and the Future**

* * *

We left our story at this particular point in time:

_Flinging herself forward, Annette hoped she was fast enough to keep Harry safe from this now obviously violent man._

_A __**crack!**__ was the last thing heard that night, before the third change of the world would inevitably occur._

This… is what happened next:

* * *

**(SEPTEMBER 1ST**** 1987 : MIDNIGHT)**

Harry jolted awake in a sweat. His heart was racing, and he could literally hear his pulse in his ears like a giant drum beat. **THU-THUMP**… **THU-THUMP**… **THU-THUMP**… It was that same nightmare, that… memory. The night that had truly changed his life more than any other thus far. The night… that… that "man"…

No… he couldn't think about it now, it was still too painful.

Getting out of bed, there was no way he would fall back to sleep with the nightmare-that-was-a-memory still hanging in the back of his mind, Harry made his way quietly to the kitchen. After two years, and many mishaps, he had learned his way around the kitchen. For one so young, he had an amazing talent when it came to food. The wide array of savory ingredients and fragrant spices helped too.

For the next three hours, a seven year old Harry began his daily ritual of crafting a breakfast cuisine masterpiece… all in the hopes of forgetting "The Nightmare". So absorbed did he become in his work, that he nearly missed the creaking of the floorboards above his head.

Someone else was awake!

Frantically, he began to replace the cookware he had been using back into the cabinets and drawers from which they had come. In his panic, Harry's glasses slipped off his face, clinking as they struck the floor. To busy to even notice that, strangely, the world was not as blurry as it usually was without his glasses, he continued on without them.

The last time he had been caught up too early…

Just as the last spice bottle found its place back on the rack, Harry heard the top of the stairs begin to groan under the weight placed upon them. Not wanting to know what could happen if he was discovered, Harry clenched his eyes shut and… disappeared. Well, not really. **HE** could still see himself, but others seemed to become unable to look at him. They would get close, and then… _magic_ally, they would turn away, or look over him.

He had discovered this talent on _that_ night, and many had followed.

The stairs made an ominous harmony as they were traversed. Step by moaning step, Harry followed the noise of the early morning interloper in his head as they made their way down the to the kitchen. Hopefully, his disappearing act would hold… he had never really practiced it enough to know for sure what its limits were.

And because he had never practiced, Harry had no reason to look down at his ever-present necklace. If he had, he would have noticed it would glow ever so faintly when his "tricks" were about to fail. But, this glow would have no meaning to him currently, so… just as well.

All was silent as the last stair step let out the loudest shriek possible. Harry held his breath, now for the moment of truth…

What Harry didn't… couldn't… know, was that his emotions were tied to his ability to disappear. Magic needed both something to drive it, and something to focus it. His emotions were driving these bursts of magic, but there was nothing to focus them. Because of that, his emotions had begun to focus his magic as well. As of now, the large amount of anxiety that was coursing through his body was interfering with his "skill".

A figure appeared in the archway between the kitchen and the living room, but the shadows were too deep, and Harry, even with his slightly better eyesight, could not see who it was without his glasses. Standing there, the silhouette seemed to peer into room, turning its head from left to right, as if expecting Harry to reappear.

And because he was thinking just precisely that, and feared suddenly appearing… he did in fact, reappear.

Somebody's busted…

"What are you doing up so early? The sun's not even up yet… " Came the sleep-filled voice of the dark form. The shadow reached up, and felt around for the light switch. After a few seconds of searching, the lights in the kitchen went on with a pop. A now visible Harry let out a silent gasp as the overhead fixture illuminated the room. The new light shone upon the groggy face of one…

Annette Belle.

Looking at the seven year old crouched down before her, Annette could only sigh. Even after one and a half years together, Harry would still revert back to some of his old habits, such as fixing an early breakfast or cringing from an expected punishment. Habits he had formed from _that_ place.

She had only been in the hospital for a few months after the ordeal, but even then, she had had Tamara take care of Harry. But it seemed that even after all this time, the effects of what he had gone through would surface every once in awhile.

She had seen how he would be a regular kid one moment, but then after _that _nightmare, it was back to square one. He would nearly always revert back to a scarred kid for a period of time.

Poor guy, it had happened again… hadn't it?

"Harry? Did you have _that_ nightmare again?" She asked. With a silent nod, Harry gave Annette the reply she expected. She sighed again. Every couple of months, usually within the first week, Harry would have the same nightmare of that night. It haunted him more than any other…

… This could NOT continue!

Squatting down to Harry's eye level, Annette opened her arms.

As if only waiting for that age-old symbol of comfort, Harry dashed over to the woman in front of him… relatively blindly. Wrapping his small arms around her neck, he broke down. He couldn't help himself. The nightmare was just too much for his young mind to handle. To his undying joy and relief, Annette was always there for him, as he knew she always would be.

Once again, the result of Harry's nightmare reminded Annette of the day they had met, of how Harry had broken down sobbing then too, and she had held him, much like this, as she comforted him. Wrapping her arms around him, Annette lifted Harry up and carried him over to the living room couch. Sitting down, she began to sing what she had come to call "Harry's Lullaby".

"… _O hush thee, my babie, thy sire was a knight, Thy mother a lady, both lovely and bright;_

_The woods and the glens, from the towers which we see, __They all are belonging, dear babie, to thee._

_O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo,_

_O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo._

_O fear not the bugle, though loudly it blows, It calls but the warders that guard thy repose;_

_Their bows would be bended, their blades would be red, Ere the step of a foeman drew near to thy bed._

_O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo,_

_O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo._

_O hush thee, my babie, the time soon will come, When thy sleep shall be broken by trumpet and drum;_

_Then hush thee, my darling, take rest while you may, For strife comes with manhood, and waking with day_

_.O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo,_

_O ho ro, i ri ri, cadul gu lo…"_

Soothed by Annette's trilling voice, Harry's sobs quieted to mere sniffles. Rubbing his eyes, he gazed at the amazing woman in front of him. She was beautiful, even if Harry could not yet fully appreciate it, she was loving, and she was always there for him. She really was everything a kid could ask for.

"Thanks… Mum." He simply said.

Yes, Harry had adopted Annette as his mother just as surely she had adopted him as a son. Even in such a short span as a year and a half, they had grown so close that the only thing keeping them from truly becoming mother and son was blood. It was incredible, and Harry had never felt more blessed.

"You know I'll always be here for you silly boy. Now… tell me what happened this time." Seeing Harry begin to think of reasons for objection, Annette continued, not giving him any room to protest.

"You will tell me now, even if I sort of know what happened. You cannot keep it all inside of you Harry… you're only seven years old."

Harry looked towards the floor in shame. Why did she always bring up his age? After what he had gone through, his age was a meaningless fact. But it was Annette, his mum, and he could never refuse her when she gave him an order.

She was his "mother" after all.

"Fine... It was _that_ memory, all over again. It began right when…"

* * *

**(FLASHBACK : SEPTEMBER 1, 1985 : STOCKTON PRIMARY SCHOOL PARKING LOT : LITTLE WHINGING : SURREY, ENGLAND)**

Vernon raised his beefy arm to strike Harry, his eyes full of rage. Harry gazed at the gigantic man gripping his arm. He had never felt such a mixture of terror and fury before. He was afraid of the pain awaiting him, but also furious that the Vernon would beat him. What gave him the right! He wasn't his father, and he was a terrible uncle!

Closing his eyes, Harry awaited the inevitable. Vernon would pay for this later… somehow… he swore it.

Annette couldn't believe that this man could be so brutal and heartless! He would dare strike a child, his nephew no less! Hearing a heart wrenching shriek, Annette wondered what sort of creature could make such a sound.

She didn't realize that it was her screaming.

Her brain finally caught up with the entire situation and she realized what was so horrifying. The force that this "man" could put behind a swing like that could kill a child as small as Harry! Abandoning all rational thought, Annette leapt forward. Grabbing a hold of Harry, she twisted him counter-clockwise out of the grip of his monstrous uncle. Flinging the small boy back, Annette watched as he spun around, and landed hard against the ground.

Belatedly, Annette realized that Vernon Dursley had already begun to swing. She had acted a fraction of a second before Vernon himself had. She had saved Harry, but would receive the blow meant for him. Vernon, coming to the same conclusion, attempted to stop his attack.

Even if he hadn't shown it, this blonde woman's threat of bringing charges against him made him nervous. Any competent investigator would be able to tell that his family had mistreated the… boy. There was no telling what the courts would do to them if they were sent to trial. England was very stringent over its Anti-Child Abuse Policies you know.

Unfortunately, Vernon's giant arm possessed so much momentum that his relatively weak muscles could not stop it.

This… would be bad.

With a loud _crack!_, Vernon's arm slammed into Annette's face. The force behind the blow, as Annette had suspected, snapped her head around so violently that, unknown to the surrounding observers, the fragile bones in her neck cracked, split, and then broke. Her body followed her head, and she was hurled back ten feet. Silence ruled as Harry, Tamara, Vernon, and the bystanders who had been watching the argument stood in shock.

'_Harry…'_ was the last thought that flitted through Annette's head before everything went dark.

Annette's limp body landed with a sickening _crunch! _against the unforgiving sidewalk.

Right then, the large clock tower began to ring its gothic bells, announcing the coming of midnight. The racket was not that loud, since the tower was on the other side of town, but…

… It was enough to jolt Harry out of his astonishment.

Hysterically, he ran to Annette's side, yelling and crying loudly for her to get up. He couldn't lose her after what she had become to him. She was the first person who had ever really cared about him…

Tamara stood in disbelief. This couldn't be real! Annette couldn't be… NO! She was always the strong one, always the one with a plan. It was Annette who had convinced her that they could make it in the Big Bad World as models. She had been Tamara's friend and rock since primary. She was the one who had finally…

Vernon was stunned. He hadn't meant to hit the blonde tart! He had only been trying to teach that FREAK a lesson! But she just had to interfere! Now, she was seriously hurt, and when she woke up, she and the other blonde would have amble evidence for the courts! He would be ruined…

Vernon's beady eyes closed to slits as he hatched an idea… a very horrible and heinous idea.

The multiple bystanders had collectively turned pale. What they had thought to be just another yelling father/daughter episode (not even close) had turned into a potential homicide. Many where looking for someone to call, anyone to call, for help. Two or three of the on looking people decided that if no one else was going to call the bobbies, _they_ would… so they left.

Any man who would strike a woman for defending a child was a psychopath!

At Annette's side, Harry was gently shaking her, trying to find any sense of movement, of life. He stopped, remembering what a paramedic he had once seen on the telly do, and checked for vitals. There were none that he could find.

Annette was dead.

A wave of unimaginable sorrow crashed down upon Harry. Tears slipped down his cheeks too quickly to count. Why was every bit of happiness he had ripped away!

"A-Annette! Annette! Please, wake up! You can't leave! Please… WAKE UP!" For years to come, anyone who had heard Harry's cry would remember it as the saddest thing they had ever heard.

Tamara, seeing Harry's tears, immediately knew what had happened. Her friend was… gone. Choking back sobs, Tamara moved to crouch next to her lifelong friend's body.

Nobody noticed that the night sky was becoming more and more clouded, with lightning crackling across the heavens with greater and greater frequency, as Harry's emotions became more and more out of control. Why would they? Muggles were a very unobservant race after all.

Likewise, no one noticed that Harry's silver necklace was literally blazing with light. Harry was too distraught to notice the burns it was causing on his neck, and everyone else was too busy looking at either Vernon or Annette to observe it's silver and emerald radiance. It was reacting to Harry's intense emotions of loss and sorrow.

The sentient necklace could not allow its human to live in such a state. He had had such a terrible life… he really did deserve some happiness.

Pulling from the giant reserve of power that was Harry's magical core, and focusing on his will, the necklace-that-was-a-snake began to work a miracle. It sent enormous amounts of healing magic into the woman on the ground. How it knew how to do this… well, this is a magical world no?

Strands of pure energy soon connected the necklace to Annette, and once again, no one noticed.

When the magic saturated every fiber of her being, the necklace began to look for what had damaged her.

It easily found what had caused the woman's death. The shattered vertebrae in her neck had pierced her spinal cord, rendering her dead. The damage was so extreme that it would have taken numerous extensive and evasive human surgeries for her even to regain the ability to breath on her own, had she lived.

Directing the healing magic to Annette's neck, the silver snake-necklace began to slowly knit together the cords of nerves that had been severed or torn. It also turned the magic to smoothing the serrated edges of the split vertebrae. Simultaneously, it built up and released a jolt of electrically charged magic into the woman's heart, effectively restarting it.

It had returned Annette to the land of the living. Her soul hadn't gotten _that_ far away after all.

At the pace and energy level it possessed, the necklace believed the woman's injuries could be completely healed in less than thirty minutes. Too bad its work was interrupted due to…

… Vernon opening his fat mouth.

Vernon had fallen into the old habit of laying all the blame for anything going wrong in his life on Harry. "NOW LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE BOY! SWITCHING PLACES WITH THAT WOMAN SO SHE WOULD HAVE TO TAKE THE PUNISHMENT MEANT FOR YOU! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT DOING ANYTHING ABNORMAL BOY!"

Now to nail down the coffin lid, so to speak.

BUT NOW THERE'S BEEN AN ENTIRE AUDIENCE THAT HAS SEEN YOUR VICIOUSNESS! I"LL FINALLY BE ABLE TO SEND YOU AWAY BOY! FINALLY! OFF TO THE MILITARY WITH YOU!"

Tamara and the entire crowd of bystanders, which had grown in size by now, looked at the walrus of a man with a mixture of disgust and disbelief. He was trying to blame this on the boy! Everyone here had seen plain as day that it was Vernon who had struck Annette, and that was only because she had to save Harry from _his_ brutality.

The silver necklace had by now stopped healing Annette. It had returned her to life and healed the worst of her injuries. It would take a few months of physical therapy to heal what it hadn't had time to, but she would be good as new.

Taking a stride towards the fallen blonde and the sobbing five year-old crouching next to her, Vernon smirked in triumph. It seemed that the little bugger's spirit had finally been broken. Maybe now he could get his life back to normal without having to worry about the freakish things that sometimes happened around the boy.

Yes, the thought made Vernon Dursley smile. Now all he had to do was collect the freak, pay off a few of the witnesses, find somewhere to dump the blonde's body, and life would go back to normal. Poor Vernon forgot one thing though.

Never make a magical five year-old furious at you. Especially if that five year-old is already angry beyond belief at you for hurting someone he or she loved.

And that is exactly what Vernon Dursley had done.

Seeing his "uncle" coming towards him, Harry snapped. This man had terrorized him since before he could remember. Vernon had made every effort to make his life as miserable as possible, simply because he hated him. And now he had taken the greatest source of Harry's happiness away with an act of extreme violence. And he was smiling!

He… Would… PAY…

Before the fat man coming towards him could react, Harry leapt over the inert form of his mother-like figure and rushed him. Unable to believe that his "nephew" could move so fast for one so small, Vernon stared in disbelief as the angry young boy ran towards him. Stepping back in alarm, Vernon could only let loose a cry of mild shock before he howled in unimaginable pain as Harry rammed his foot into his crotch.

Vernon slumped to the ground as waves of searing pain flooded his body from between his legs. That monster! That little devil! He had kicked him in the balls! There would be nothing left of him when he got through with him!

Groaning, Vernon slowly raised himself up on one knee, only to have his face bashed in courtesy of Harry's very hard elbow. Harry's small size worked against him this time as the force behind his second attack only served to piss his "uncle" off more. Said "uncle" blindly threw his own arm out to fend off the ferociously attacking child.

Unfortunately for Harry, a blind swing from his "uncle" was almost like a young Hungarian Horntail swinging its tail to club you to death. The limb impacted with his chest, snapped a rib, and threw him back a few feet. Gasping, Harry had only one thought floating through his head, _'Ouch…'_, before he slammed into the ground, defenseless.

Now having time to recover from Harry's attack, Vernon shakily stood up. Eyeing his downed "nephew" with disgust and rage, the walking walrus let out a growl and shuffled closer to the boy. His nerves were still afire from Harry's kick, and it hurt too much to take long strides.

"Not so confident now are we freak!" Came Vernon's irate, slightly trembling voice. Damn! The pain was even affecting his voice! Getting no response from the collapsed boy in front of him, Vernon decided to make good on his many threats to the boy here and now. Taking a large step forward, he pulled one leg back, and kicked out as hard as possible.

Vernon's giant foot connected with Harry's stomach with a _whoomp!_ and scream from Harry. The overwhelming pain of the blow short-circuited Harry's brain, it not being able to handle the massive agony, and he felt all control of his limbs disappear. He was a literal sack of flesh.

The strike to a defenseless Harry was the last straw for a still mourning Tamara Good. Standing, she stomped over to the glaring form of Vernon Dursley. Raising her high-heeled foot, she repeated Harry's early action of kicking him in the balls. For a second time that night, Vernon collapsed on the ground, howling in agony.

A completely numb Harry could only observe as his would-have-been mother's best friend kicked his "uncle" in the exact same place he had. Knowing that the monstrous man on the ground would not stay down for long, he tried to move. Futilely, Harry strained his mind in an attempt to move his arms and/or legs.

Nothing happened.

Focusing harder, Harry pushed every bit of his will into forcing his limbs to move. Still, nothing happened. Taking a deep breath, Harry cleared his mind of everything; the pain, the feelings of loss, the rage at his "uncle", the sense of not knowing who he really was that had haunted him all his life…

And the third change occurred… rather belatedly…

* * *

In the blankness of his mind, Harry felt… something. A second set of thoughts… thoughts not his own… thoughts of… another presence. In the nothing that he had created, Harry reached out towards this strange "presence".

'_H-hello? Who is there?' _The presence didn't answer, but Harry felt that it had taken notice of him.

'_WHO IS THERE! ANSWER ME!'_ Harry roared as loudly as he could in his head. As if responding to his order, the other presence focused itself over to where Harry would say he was "located".

'_No need to yell… masssster.' _Came the reply of the presence. If Harry had had eyes, they would have burst from their sockets. No one had ever spoken to him in such a way before! The other presence sounded almost like a… servant?

'_Who are you?'_ Harry repeated. _'And why are you in my head?'_

'_I have no name masssster. I was never given one. But, assss to why I am "in your head" assss you sssso poetically put it, all I can sssay issss that I have alwayssss been here.'_ The voice of the presence replied.

Now Harry was on edge. How could he have another set of thoughts in his head without knowing it?

'_How come I never noticed you before?'_ He asked. Sounding exasperated, the presence replied,

'_That would be becausssse you have never cleared your mind before masssster. All of the thingssss you think about on a daily bassssissss cloud your mind from communicating with me. And until you find a way to change me back to my true form, I will only ever be able to talk to your in your mind.'_

'_So if I had focused and cleared my mind before like I have now…'_ Harry started.

'… _you would have met me much earlier in your life, yesssss.' _The voice of the presence finished. Then, a random thought came to Harry.

'_Why do you talk like that?'_

'_Like what masssster?' _The voice replied.

'_Why do you talk like a snake?'_ Harry questioned again. It was creeping him out that the voice in his head was talking like a snake. That's all he needed, a giant worm in his head. The answer he received was not the one he was looking for.

'_That would be because I am a ssssnake masssster.'_

Alarmed, Harry tried to back away from the presence. There _was_ a snake in his head? THERE WAS A SNAKE IN HIS HEAD! Picking up on his rather obvious thoughts, the presence-that-was-a-snake spoke again.

'_Pleasssse do not be frightened masssster. I would never dream of hurting you.'_ That did little to nothing to calm down a freaking out Harry Potter… who was hyperventilating… if he actually had lungs.

'_? HOW? DID? A? SNAKE? GET? IN? MY? HEAD!'_ Yeah, he was definitely red zone. After letting Harry go on for a few minutes, the snake slapped him, metaphysically speaking, but that's what it felt like to Harry.

'_Would you pleasssse ssssettle down? I would never hurt you masssster, I have been with you… all your life.'_ The snake reasoned. That effectively put Harry into a confused silence. If he had had a mouth he would have been gapping like a fish.

'_How… how can you have been with me all my life? I never noticed a snake around me before. And I'm sure that my "family" would have killed any that had managed to come anywhere near me anyway.'_ Harry asked after his synapses had began to fire again.

'_Have you never wondered about the ssssilver necklace that hassss alwayssss been with you? The ssssame necklace that cannot be removed?'_ The snake asked. Harry nodded. He had wondered what was the story behind his _magic_al necklace.

'_**I**__ am your ssssilver necklace Harry Potter.'_ The snake sounded very smug. Harry, instead of freaking out again, merely thought about what he had just learned.

His necklace _had_ always been with him. And it had seemed to grow as he had, never becoming too tight as he had gotten bigger. It had also never tarnished, as other silver appliances and jewelry did. And whenever his "uncle" or "cousin" had tried to tug or snap it off of him, the only thing that happened was that it would shock them, and not come off. So… if it could do all of this, why couldn't actually be some sort of shape-changing snake?

'_So if that's the case, why haven't you changed back by now?'_ He asked. Harry heard what sounded suspiciously like a sigh, but… could a snake sigh?

'_My becoming a necklace wassss not of my own doing masssster. Assss far assss I can remember, I have alwayssss been your ssssilver necklace, but have alssso known that I am really a ssssnake. Ssssomeone elsssse made me what I am.'_ The snake answered. It was true. It's first memory was of waking up wrapped around Harry's neck, and knowing that it was really a snake, not a piece of jewelry.

'_But who would- '_ Before the conversation could continue, Harry was thrown out of the blackness of his clear mind by a fresh wave of pain.

* * *

Coming back to the real world, the first thing Harry noticed was that Tamara Good was passed out on the ground next to him. The second thing he noticed was that his "uncle" had just raised his foot from stomping on his now broken leg, and was preparing to stomp on his other one. The third was that he could control his arms and legs again, well, the ones that weren't broken.

Instead of letting panic flood his system at the sight of Vernon's yeti-like foot hanging over his body, Harry clenched his eyes shut, and concentrated on his necklace.

"A little help would be nice!" He sent out in his mind. There was no immediate reply, and Vernon was prepared to smash his other leg. Just as Harry was about to give up hope, he felt a burst of power from both his chest and his snake-necklace. Feeling no agony from his other leg, he opened his eyes.

To see a completely confused Vernon looking him straight in the eyes. It was as if Vernon couldn't see him! Silently gasping, Harry closed his eyes again. Surely his "uncle" was just reacting to him waking up from the beating? Still, there was no pain. What was going on? Vernon could see him clear as day… right?

Opening his eyes again, Harry stared hard at Vernon's face. His eyes showed only confusion, his face, slack in shock. Harry turned his gaze down to himself, and gasped again. He couldn't see himself! He was invisible!

Invisible, but not silenced. Vernon turned his giant head towards the tiny sound he had heard coming from the spot where his "nephew" had disappeared from. This was it, the little freak had crossed the line! He could look past the bursting of light bulbs and cracking of glasses as faulty products, but turning invisible! There was no way the freak was living in his house anymore.

"Where are you freak! You think turning invisible will save you? You have no where to go." Vernon whispered harshly. His bulk was blocking the bystander's view of his "nephew", but if he suddenly started shouting about invisible boys, they would think he was off his rocker.

Harry was holding his breath. If he could get up without making any noise, his "uncle" would be none the wiser. Then he could walk around him and kick him again. But now, to stand up without making the slightest noise.

Right as Harry finally got back to his feet… er… foot, he, Vernon, and every bystander heard them. Sirens, and lots of them. Waiting until Vernon had spun around to watch the blue and red lights come closer, Harry slowly let go of the feeling of invisibility. The bobbies were almost to the scene when…

* * *

**(FLASHBACK END : NOW : SEPTEMBER 1****ST**** 1987 : MIDNIGHT)**

"… and then I woke up."

Annette merely tightened her grip on her adopted son. Yes, she could faintly remember what happened after that monster had struck her down…

Her world had gone black, and the only thing she had felt was the curious sensation of rising upward. Then, before she could really do anything, she had felt a rush of energy like never before and a sharp pain in her neck as the broken vertebrae and severed spinal cords were repaired.

She had no idea what could possibly have the power to heal such dire wounds, but she discounted Harry's claim of the silver necklace he always wore. Jewelry, no matter how beautiful, could not heal people.

After the pain in her neck had somewhat lessened, she had been able to open her eyes enough to watch as Vernon had slammed his leg into Harry's stomach. Unimaginable anguish tore through her body as she watched the boy she had miraculously come to love be brutalized by his own family.

She had tried to stand, to move at all, but her injury would not allow it. The most she could do was open and close her eyes and breath. She felt so helpless!

She had cheered in her head when Tamara had kicked Vernon in the nuts. Then cried out when he had staggered to his feet and slapped her down. Both of the ones she loved more than anything else in the world were being hurt, and she could do nothing to stop it!

Tears poured from her eyes as she watched Vernon stomp mercilessly on Harry's leg, snapping it like a twig. The adrenaline that was coursing through her body was too much for her in her weakened state, and she succumbed to the darkness of unconsciousness.

When next she woke, she was in a hospital. Tamara was sitting next to her and holding onto her hand. She had felt such relief. Tamara was safe! Then, fear gripped her heart in its icy grip. Where was Harry? Was he safe? Was he away from those monsters?

Her face must have shown her fear, because Tamara quickly reassured her that he was safe.

"Don't worry about Harry, Anne. When the bobbies came, they were quick to arrest that fat bastard. When they asked Harry who he belonged to, he would only reply; 'With the lady on the ground.'."

That had made Annette smile.

Pulling herself out of her memories, Annette looked at the seven year old in her lap. He was so lovable, yet so strange sometimes. He would be watching a silly child show on the tube one minute, then pick up and study some book that should have been years beyond his understanding the next.

But she loved him just the same.

"You know only parts of that dream were real… right Harry? That man did hurt you terribly, and no one should have to be hurt like that. But your necklace did not talk to you. Its just not possible. And there is no way that you could have really turned invisible. And no matter what, you know that you will never have to worry about Vernon again..." She assured him. She guessed that adding some make-believe to the nightmare of that night was better than obsessing over it.

What Annette didn't know was that Harry was silently communicating with his necklace, even as she spoke. He had decided to name the snake Sarras, for lack of a better idea. Whenever Harry had one of his nightmares, Sarras could help calm him down nearly as much as Annette.

'_Sarras… it happened again… The dream… why does it keep coming back?'_

'_I do not know Harry… Maybe it issss because you will not let what happened go. You ssssstill blame yourself for what…'_

'_I know, I know Sarras… but…' _Harry began.

'_But nothing Harry. What your uncle did wassss terrible, but none of it wassss YOUR fault. He wassss a monsssster, and you are the farthest thing from that.' _Sarras interrupted.

'_But if you hadn't been there…'_

'_But I wassss… and I usssed YOUR power… because YOU wanted Annette to be healed. A monsssster would never have cared for another like that. You are Harry Potter, not Vernon Dursley… and that is THAT.'_ And with that, Sarras was silent.

Sarras's sharp reprimand was just what Harry needed to knock himself out of his self-pity. Thinking back, Harry remembered just how he had discovered the ability to contact Sarras at will.

Sometime after the incident at the school, when he had his first nightmare, Harry had sat down and meditated, thinking it would empty his mind of turmoil. Instead, he found Sarras. It was after talking with the snake for a second time that he had come to accept that he was not a normal human.

He was different.

He had power.

He had… magic.

It was the only explanation. The things he had done during _that _night were so impossible, that only something as equally impossible as magic could account for them. After asking Annette to take him to the library, Harry had gone to the "Olde Literature" Section and grabbed any books on magic he could find. Many had been useless, but one…

* * *

**(FLASHBACK : AUGUST 17****th****, 1986 : A LIBRARY IN LONDON : THE "OLDE LITERATURE" SECTION)**

A six year old boy sat at a rather large mahogany desk staring at an ancient tomb he had pulled from the library shelves. This was what he was looking for! It wasn't about some hocus-pocus junk or about spinning around outside with a hood on like an idiot, it looked to be the real deal. The cover was old leather, the reddish kind, and it was covered in strange marks.

But that was not what had gotten Harry's attention. It was the fact that the librarian had completely ignored it when he had checked out his books. When he asked her about it, she looked at where he was pointing and asked if he was being funny. Seeing her cross look, Harry belatedly realized that he was the only one who could see the book. Needless to say, he had quickly dropped the subject.

Upon opening the tomb, a bright flash had blinded him for a few seconds. Looking at the first page, Harry had been in awe. Letters had crawled across the page like ants, arranging themselves into words.

"_To whomsoever finds this tomb…"_

"_As you have no doubt realized by now, having found this book…_

…_means that you are no ordinary human… you are a wizard… or a witch._

_Do not be alarmed… for you are part of a world… full of wonders beyond your wildest dreams._

_A world of magic spells and monstrous creatures… of mystery… and of danger…_

_This book will be your first guide to surviving in this world…_

_Discover your own potential, your own abilities… _

_turn the page and…_

_Learn._

Harry was ecstatic. Maybe this could teach him what he needed to know about his abilities.

* * *

**(FLASHBACK END)**

He never told Annette about what he had found. That he had taken the book from the library without permission… for who would let him take a book no one else could see? The book had been his greatest guide in discovering what he was and what he could do. With its help, he had been able to disappear on demand… and, with a bit of concentration, still be able to see himself.

Snapping back to the present, Harry caught only the last of Annette's next statement.

"… Now back to bed little guy."

With that, Annette picked Harry up off her lap and walked with him up to his room. After tucking him in and a quick kiss on the cheek, she left. Alone, Harry sat and waited for dreamland to take him away.

* * *

**(JULY 20****TH**** 1989 : WELLS : SOMERSET, ENGLAND)**

"Harry! Time to get up! You'll be late for school!"

How amazing it is that no matter what age they are, little boys, especially ones nearly nine years old, will try anything to stay home from school. In the case of Harry Potter, who was one of these nearly nine year old boys, today, he was going to try the old "I have the flu" excuse. He had it all planned out.

First, he would have to raise his body's temperature to just under the danger level. Annette always checked his forehead whenever he was sick. To be sure that he wouldn't harm himself, Harry would have to use only a small bit of his magic to "warm up".

Then, he would need to start coughing vigorously. That would take a good deal of acting. Maybe he should throw in a sore throat to complete the act?

And to finish the trick, he'd need to craft a ball of light to blind his eyes so they'd be too unfocused to even appear normal. That was Annette's last check before she even began to seriously worry.

Then, the only thing left to do would be to make up some excuse to get her out of the house but not get himself sent to the hospital. There was a fine line between what Annette thought was healthy enough for school and healthy enough for the E.R.

All he had to do was wait a little bit more, and his plan would commence. Annette shouted up to him again that he was going to be late if he didn't get a move on, as if he didn't already know that. Well, Harry had no intention of getting out of bed right now, and he knew that Annette would come to get him if he stayed where he was.

He was right. Only a few minutes after calling him, Harry heard Annette climb the creaking stairs to his room. Using his will, he directed a small piece of his magic to his forehead. Feeling the influx of energy in his head, he set it to giving him a temperature of about 102 degrees. That should be just enough.

Already feeling his temperature rising, Harry concentrated on the spot right in front of his face. He condensed more of his magic into a ball of wavering light, then let the volatile creation explode, blinding him. While his eyes tried to readjust after the flash of light, Harry let his mind wander.

What should he do today? He had explored most of Wells by now, having lived there with Annette and Tamara for nearly four years. He had climbed to the top of the Cathedral's towers and looked west to the city below. He had gone to the Mendip Hills and explored the caves underneath, invisible of course. He had even gone to the Wells and Mendip Museum and gotten in for free, using magic of course, and seen all of the artifacts there.

The opening of his room's door broke Harry out of his thoughts. His magic had done its job, now for the acting. With a scratchy cough, Harry began operation: Get Out of School.

"*cough* Mum? I don't *cough* feel good. I *cough* *cough* think I have the flu." That sounded like a good start.

Annette narrowed her eyes at her adopted son. He was usually a very healthy boy, but she knew he'd try anything to get out of going to Stoberry Park School, one of the primary schools in Wells. He was very intelligent for his age, and she knew he felt that he didn't need to go to school. Harry had tried many times to act sick before, but she was always too smart for his tricks.

"Harry… are you just trying to get out of school again?" She asked. She doubted he'd give up that easily, but one must always try.

"No *cough* no Mum. I really feel *cough* sick." Harry replied, inserting coughs at various points. She was right, he would be stubborn this time.

"Well, then you wouldn't mind if I checked your temperature right?" Annette questioned. This was when he usually began to sweat. Harry could do many things, but he couldn't fake being sick. She was surprised when he shakily agreed. Maybe he really was ill.

Resting the back of her hand against Harry's forehead, she was shocked that it felt hot! He had a temperature! Looking at his eyes, she saw that they were slightly unfocused. Now she was worried. Her little boy really was sick.

"Harry, get out of bed. I'm taking you to the hospital. You have a fever or something. We need to get you medical attention." This was what Harry was afraid of. His mum cared for him so much, but she sometimes overreacted. He needed something to reassure her that he didn't need to go to the hospital. What was today? Thursday…. That's it!

"Mum, its okay. Its one of *cough* Tamara's off days from *cough* *cough* the agency. Just have her *cough* watch me in her free *cough* time."

"Oh, I don't know. What if she had plans or something? I can't just say 'Hey Tam, can you watch Harry for a bit, he really is sick for once, 'k thanks', and be out the door." Annette objected.

After a few years of amateur modeling, both she and Tamara had been contacted by Storm Models. Now, they were some of the top models at the agency. The only bad thing was that the agency was all the way in Chelsea, London. Instead of always hiring a babysitter to watch Harry, they had set up a schedule where one of them would commute over to London for a few days while the other would watch Harry. Then, usually in the middle of the week, they would come back to Somerset while the other went over to London. Thursday was one of Tamara's off days before Annette left on Friday to work.

"Come on *cough* Mum. She loves doing nothing but *cough* unwinding after a day at the agency, you know *cough* that." Harry countered. He knew that Tamara was usually stressed after a work cycle, and liked to slug at home on the couch at every opportunity. What better chance than to "watch" him while he was sick?

Thinking it over, Annette reluctantly agreed. It wouldn't be too hard for Tamara to stop and check on Harry ever once in a while as she relaxed, would it?

"All right Harry, I guess you win. I'll ask Tamara if she will watch you today." She conceded.

Harry was amazed that it was that simple. Magic made it this easy to fool his mum? He'd need to use it more often. But soon, his hopes for an easy day off were dimmed as Annette continued speaking.

"I was planning to go over to London a bit early anyway today. There was something one of the managers needed done and it will take quite awhile. While I'm gone you'd better not leave your room for more than food or the bathroom mister. I'll call the pharmacy on the way and get some medicine delivered to you."

Right as Annette bent over to pull Harry's blanket up by his chest, she stopped.

"And if this is somehow one of your tricks Harry, and I find out… there will be some major punishments. I might not even let you come to London next time."

With that, Harry laid there as Annette tucked him in and left his room with a 'bye'. Now what? If Annette found him out of bed when she came home then he'd be in so much trouble, it was not even funny. All the magic in the world wouldn't be able to fool her for long.

This would take some planning…

* * *

**Read... for reading is good.**

**Review... for reviewing and leaving constructive critisism is good.**

**The lullaby is called 'Lullaby for an Infant Chief'.**

**Storm Models is an actual modeling agency... we do not own it either.**


	5. An Adventure in London

**We are the 0bservanc3. We See many timelines.**

**We do NOT own Harry Potter, nor any characters seen within this timeline.**

**Read on… **

**And see how even small changes in a single life can change the world.**

**A Very 'Not So Different' Story - An Adventure in London**

We left our story at this particular point in time:

_Right as Annette bent over to pull Harry's blanket up by his chest, she stopped._

"_If this is somehow one of your tricks Harry, and I find out… there will be some major punishments. I might not even let you come to London next time."_

_With that, Harry laid there as Annette tucked him in and left his room with a 'bye'. Now what? If Annette found him out of bed when she came home then he'd be in so much trouble, it was not even funny. All the magic in the world wouldn't be able to fool her for long._

_This would take some planning…_

This… is what happened next:

* * *

**(JULY 20****TH**** 1989 : CITY OF LONDON, ENGLAND)**

Harry wondered how his simple day off school had ended up like this. He was sitting on the highest point of the National Westminster Tower, the tallest bloody building in all of bloody England, a magical crime boss was after him, _and_ he was not alone. Beside him, with her feet dangling over the precipice, sat the light golden-haired girl he had met earlier that day.

He was in awe of her. She seemed normal. She had long shining hair that fell in thick ringlets down her back, flashing amethyst eyes that expressed her already formidable mind, and nothing was different about her clothes, they were normal just like his were.

But normal…

She

Was

Not

She had magic…

Staring out at the city below them, the sun just beginning to paint the skies in oranges and reds, Harry looked back on the day's events; from how he'd escaped Tamara, to how he'd met the girl sitting beside him. And the adventure in between.

* * *

**(FLASHBACK : EARLIER THAT MORNING)**

Straining his ears, Harry just made out the noise of his mother saying good bye to Tamara and leaving the house. Quickly ending the temperature enhancing spell and clearing his eyesight, Harry launched himself out of bed and towards the loo. Brushing his teeth and speedily dragging a wet towel across his face, Harry then returned to his room and grabbed the "Journal".

Whenever he had a question about magic, the book usually had the answer, and he would definitely need magic to get out of the house without Tamara, or his mother, finding out.

Opening the book, Harry quickly scanned the sprawling words across the pages. The tome was filled with all kinds of spells, hexes, and curses. Some were as simple as flicking one's… wand?… Really, a wand?… and uttering a single word, while some were so complex that he couldn't even understand the first line.

But what he needed now was something that could fool Tamara into believing he was still in his room, so that he could get away without any trouble. Pulling a small amount of his magic from his core as he had learned to do, Harry directed the energy into the book, Thinking about what he needed the tome to find, he let the pages turn on their own.

'_Here goes nothing Sarras…'_ Harry thought to his enchanted snake.

'_Issss thissss really necesssssary Harry? It ssssseemssss like ssso much trouble jusssst to avoid sssschool…'_ The snake thought back. Why his master continuously tried to avoid such a place was beyond his understanding. It was a very boring place, he would admit, but the trouble caused by getting caught trying to get out of it had historically not been worth the effort. But… he _was_ the master…

'_It's just so boring Sarras! Everything they teach at school is stuff I learned months ago - on my own! I can't stand sitting there all day doing nothing!' _Harry retorted. _'I'll go mad!'_

'_And besides, this time… we're using magic! What could possibly go wrong?'_

'_Hmmmmmm… Do you remember the water producing charm you tried earlier lasssst month? _Sarras questioned. _'What wassss it called again… __**aguamenti**__?'_

Spluttering, Harry tried to come up with an excuse for that… complete and total failure. He failed… again.

'_Ahhh, I ssssee that you do. You shouted out that charm without fully undersssstanding what it did, only knowing it involved water and you were thirssssty, and every water pipe in the houssse exploded!'_ Sarras paused before continuing. _'Your carelessssnessss nearly killed ussss and if the floor hadn't given away beneath ussss, it would have!'_

'_That won't happen this time, I swear! All I need this time is to somehow make a copy of myself that will fool Tamara and Mum for the day.'_ Harry countered. _'Then, while it stays here, we can go out and have some fun.'_

'_And what issss to sssstop thissss… copy… from desssstroying the houssse while we are away?_ Sarras pressed. _'Sssstop and think before you charge forward Harry… I do not think that your mother would appreciate it if she had to buy _another_ houssssse. The one in London wassss sssso expensive after all.'_

'_Ummm… well… okay fine! Maybe I need to think this through a bit…'_ Harry said, giving in to Sarras's logic.

During the internal conversation between boy and snake, the pages of the ancient tome had flipped back and forth from front to back as Harry's mind whirled, continuously changing as he argued with Sarras. Finally noticing the book's frantic attempts at keeping up with his thoughts, Harry centered his mind on one thing…

"Copy"

After half-a-minute of continued page turning, the "Journal" slammed to a stop. The page was titled, "Multiple Multiplying Multiplications". Ecstatic that he had found a chapter that sounded like what he wanted, Harry eagerly read the pages.

"_Multiplication of one's self is…" "A very difficult skill to master…"_

"_If done incorrectly, any attempt may lead to death…" "Or dismemberment or other horrid endings…"_

"_Take great care when deciding if…" "Self-Duplication is truly what you desire…"_

"_Copies have a habit of being unreliable or defective…" "Take precautions before attempting any of the following…"_

_1.) The Polyjuice Potion_

_2.) The spell - __**Geminio**_

_3.) The curse - __**Gemino**_

_4.) The charm - __**Homenum Polygemo**_

"_Each of the above has its pros and cons…" "Read each and every one before considering use…"_

_1.) The Polyjuice Potion - Used to change one person into the physical form of another. Note, original personality will remain intact, unfortunately, bodily functions will convert to those of the copied, which has historically led to… uncomfortable positions upon reverting back to original form. It has also been reported that extended use of the potion has led to irreconcilable identity crises._

_The Polyjuice Potion has many good qualities; such as its ability to completely change the physical features of its user - which make detection by spells impossible, its ability to be carried long distances without spoiling, and its inability to be prematurely undone by outside forces. _

_But with good qualities, there inevitably come bad. The Polyjuice Potion is an extremely difficult potion to brew, with many ingredients and requiring constant care as it is brewed, or it will be completely useless. It also requires a piece of the person being copied, usually the hardest ingredient to procure without trouble. The most well known con of using the Polyjuice Potion is that its taste rivals that of dragon dung, argumentatively the worst downside to its use. It is rumored that not even Fire whiskey can remove the taint of the potion from the user's taste buds._

_The ingredients for the Polyjuice Potion are as followed:_

_12 lacewing flies that have been stewed for 21 days_

_1 ounce of crude Antimony_

_4 leeches that have been "unsucculated"_

_16 scruples of fluxweed that were picked at full moon_

_3 drachms of pulverised Sal Ammoniac_

_Pulverised blades of knotgrass_

_1 pinch of powdered horn of a Bicorn that has been "lunar extracted"_

_Filings and rasplings of Saltpeter, Mercury and Mars_

_Shredded dried skin of a Boomslang_

_Extract of The-Transfigured-Being-To-Be_

Now, Harry was a smart boy for his age. He was even smarter than some kids twice his age. But even his mind was blown after reading the ingredients for the potion in front of him. Lacewing flies? Fluxweed? Boomslang and knotgrass? What kind of ingredients were these?

Harry harrumphed as it became clear to him that this potion was way beyond his level. It looked like some of these ingredients were only a part of what the "Journal" called the Magical World. And he had no clue as to how to get there.

So the potion was a no go.

Onward to the spell - **Geminio**

_2.) __**Geminio **__- A spell used by many witches and wizards that daily face the evils of paperwork. This simple spell duplicates whatever object it is cast upon. As mentioned, those who need quick copies of paperwork and do not have access to _copy quills _regularly use __**Geminio**__to achieve the same result. Note, __**Geminio**__ cannot create a copy of a living, breathing being…_

Harry stopped reading about the copying spell after discovering that it could not copy living beings. If two of the "Journal's" suggestions weren't going to work, then the others probably wouldn't either. He needed a copy of _himself_, and fast. Tamara would undoubtedly come up soon to see if he was asleep, and if he was not, then she would not leave him alone until he was. And if she kept coming up to see him, then if and when he did make _the switch_, then she would be able to tell the difference.

She was a very perceptive woman after all.

Having turned his thoughts to making a copy of himself as soon as possible, the book suddenly, and quite literally, jumped off the table. Jerking back in shock, Harry stared wide eyed as the thick tome hovered in the air right in front of his face. Holding absolutely still in case the book decided to fly at him next, Harry blinked.

The tome, after rotating around lengthwise, opened.

_*insert mystical music from Harry Potter here, you know the song*_

With soft tearing noises, pages and pages of the book ripped themselves from the spine and fluttered closer to Harry. Officially spooked, he clenched his eyes shut as the first few pages gently landed on his ridged arms and torso. Smart boy.

With an ever increasing speed, the flying pages landed on his body, covering more and more of it. Soon, pages even began to land on his head, spreading out from the nape of his neck to the crown of his head. Feeling the writhing pieces of the magic book beginning to cover his mouth and nose, Harry began to panic.

"_Sarras! HELP!"_ But there was nothing the transmuted snake could do to aid his master.

Realizing that papers would soon cover his face, Harry took a deep breath, unconsciously drawing on his magic to draw in more air.

And the papers covered him, totally and completely.

*_slowly fade out music*_

….

….

….

Ten seconds… Harry felt the last of the papers from the book settle on his body.

Twenty seconds… No movement.

Thirty seconds… Harry's lungs began to tingle.

Forty seconds… No noise whatsoever penetrates the shell of pages that cover him. His lungs begin to burn. Then, a very loud _CRACK!_

A full fifty seconds after basically being devoured by the ancient tome, the pages begin to separate, splitting along hairline seams that uncurled around his arms and legs like the blossoms of a rose. Falling back onto his bed, Harry looked up and saw something amazing.

Right in front of him stood an exact replica of his body, completely made of pages from the "Journal", which had fallen to the floor, spent. It was his exact height and size, and even had thin strings of wrapped paper that looked like glasses. But…

It didn't move…

Curious about this new paper look-alike, Harry stood and hesitantly walked over to the strange… thing. Its similarities to him were scarily accurate, even with words scrawled over nearly every inch of its "skin". Maneuvering around the paper-boy, Harry stared straight into its… blank face! There were NO eyes! Or nose! Or mouth!

Again shocked, Harry blew a giant breath of air right into the flat of the front of its head, and took a step back. Now what was he going to do? Looking over at the remnants of the "Journal", he was met with a disheartening sight. The ancient book was now only about ten pages thick. Picking it up, Harry turned his back on the paper-boy, and began scanning the remaining pages of the "Journal" for something that could actually help him.

Of course, turning your back on anything magical is usually a bad idea, especially if it had just been wrapped around you tighter than a boa constrictor. And as Harry turned around, studying his book, this was proven true. Faster than he could react, the paper-boy launched itself at Harry.

Even though it weighed less than a pound, the paper-boy somehow managed to knock Harry to his knees, wrapping its thin arms and legs around his. Leaning over its creator, the paper-boy slowly leaned its blank face closer and closer to Harry's.

Harry was beginning to tire of this thing that had come from the "Journal". First it enveloped him from head to foot, nearly suffocating him. Then, it did seemingly nothing after it got off of him. And as soon as he turned his back, the stupid thing attacked him!

ENOUGH!

With a surge of anger and magic, Harry summoned all his strength and swung the paper-boy off of him. As it flew through the air, the paper-boy smirked at him. Wait… smirked? Suddenly sporting a mouth, the paper-boy floated to the ground with a confident smirk. Harry could see the pitch-black words scattered on its papery skin slowly swimming their way up to its now semi-formed face to ink in eyes and the outlines of a nose.

What scared Harry the most in this bizarre situation was that the face the paper-boy was forming was his! This was not happening!

"Don't try anything funny," Harry warned his doppelganger, "You're made of paper, and I know how to call up fire."

The paper-boy didn't seem to be too afraid of its supposed master. In fact, it seemed to smirk even wider, its ink mouth growing so wide it stretched from ear to paper ear.

"I mean it, don't move!" Harry warned again, raising a hand to cast a spell. The paper-boy pointed to the "Journal" as its only answer.

Perplexed, Harry opened the tome, keeping an eye on his creation. On the last remaining page, a single sentence read in faded ink;

_The paper-boy: A near perfect replica of its creator, completely devoted, but cannot speak._

Looking up, Harry stared at his paper-boy.

"Why did you attack me?" The paper-boy merely shrugged and pointed to the "Journal". Looking down, Harry saw the faded letters rearrange themselves;

_Paper-boys will attempt to cover their creator in order to copy their appearance._

"Will you do what I say?" At this question, the paper-boy shrugged again and flamboyantly bowed its head in a sarcastic stab at a yes. Harry rolled his eyes. _'Great. It thinks its funny. Just great!'_

Seeing that the paper-boy would no longer try to attack him, Harry leapt into action. He swirled around his room, picking up anything that had fallen during the tussle with the paper-boy, all the while whispering instructions to it. After a good ten minutes of explaining what he wanted it to do, Harry pushed the paper-boy towards the bed with one last instruction, "Whatever you do, in no way, shape, or form are you to get yourself into any situation that requires speech. Do you understand?"

With another sarcastic bow, the paper-boy slipped underneath the sheets of Harry's bed, rolling over until its back was to the door of the room.

* * *

**(FLASHBACK - FLASHFORWARD : THREE HOURS)**

After using his magic to float down to the ground, Harry had had to decide on where to go. He'd been pretty much everywhere interesting in Wells as far as he was concerned. Maybe he should go to London. After all, that was where he had found the "Journal", surely other magical things had to be there. And the thought that there was always the small chance that Annette might discover him added a thrill to the whole idea.

Destination in mind, Harry took out his chalk and began to draw a circle.

The chalk had been something that the "Journal" had inspired. It had said that to travel long distances in a short amount of time, wizards and witches used something called Floo Powder. The powder was to be thrown into a fireplace, and then it would transport you anywhere you wanted to go.

The "Journal" had instructions on how to make the powder, though it warned that doing so outside of "regulations" was considered illegal by Wizarding Law, but Harry didn't care. He'd had had no contact with the Wizarding World his entire life, so why worry about it now?

Amazingly, the ingredients were simple to find. The only problem had come from adding magic to the concoction. After many trials and errors, including the transportation of a pan to somewhere in Antarctica, Harry had found the right mixture of powder and magic to make it work. Ecstatic at his success, Harry had run around all day making small things "disappear", transporting them God knows where.

Belatedly, he had realized that Floo Powder was messy and, in his excitement, had covered nearly the entire house in it. After finding a quick "clean it" spell in the "Journal", Harry had set about making his powder easier to carry around. Searching the "Journal" had once again provided the answer. There was a section about ancient sorcerers who used magic circles to accomplish wondrous feats. Those self-same sorcerers had used chalk.

Quickly finding a recipe for chalk-making on the Internet, Harry substituted the Plaster of Paris with his Floo powder and voila! Floo Chalk! It worked just as well as the powder, and fireplaces where no longer needed.

Having finished his circle, Harry hefted the shoulder bag he had taken with him, and called out a random street that he knew was somewhere in his destination;

"Great Tower Street, City of London, London, England!" With a flash of green fire, he was gone.

And in a flash of green fire, he arrived in the City of London, on Great Tower Street.

Looking around, Harry decided to start his day off at the big church on the street. A sign designated the church as All-Hallows-By-The-Tower. Interested, Harry strolled down to the building, silently casting a Disillusionment Charm so no nosy passerby's would wonder why he wasn't in school. His mother and Tamara were enough for him thank you very much.

Stealing into the church was no problem for Harry and his Disillusionment Charm. Reading the mounted plaques as he went, Harry was intrigued by the ancient building. By chance he had transported himself to the oldest church in the City of London! Immediately, his thoughts turned to what sort of secrets he could unearth here.

Finding a spiraling staircase that appeared to go up to the rafters, Harry walked over to it and grabbed the railing. A sudden shock of pain from his magical core caused him to release the old stone rail and watch in amazement as the stone blocks that composed the stairs shifted slightly, then plummeted into the floor.

Instead of the _CRASH!_ of stone against stone, there was no sound at all. Harry stared, still in shock, at the ancient blocks that now spanned from the rafters to seemingly through the floor. If it hadn't been for the step that was half-in half-out of the tiled floor, he would have believed nothing happened.

As it was, Harry took a shaky step forward and climbed onto the staircase once again. This time, the railing did not jolt him as it had before. It seemed, from the impression he could see on the stone, that the pain had come from a long lasting charm that had been set in the stonework that would only activate under the touch of a magical being.

What could be so important that it had to be hidden from non-magical people? As the oldest church in the area, it had to have been constructed during a time when normal people were still suspicious of magical people, maybe even hunted them! For this to be here, meant that someone had taken great pains to hide away something important.

Curiosity now on fire, Harry quickly turned and began his decent into the bowls of the ancient church.

* * *

After what seemed like forever, and about fifty turns, Harry hit the bottom of the staircase… literally. It looked like someone had thought it would be a good idea to add additional protection to the secret underground level of the church. At the bottom of the impossibly long stairs, was a solid brick wall.

"How the bloody hell am I supposed to get passed this!" Harry yelled, "All that walking for nothing!"

Sarras, having been silent for this misadventure so far, finally spoke up, _'Why do you alwayssss sssseem to missss the sssimple thingssss Harry?'_

'_What simple things? It's a bloody brick wall! What can I possibl-oh…'_

It was simple really. His Floo Chalk didn't just work on the ground. Any flat surface could be used…. even say, a brick wall. Although, when used on surfaces not parallel to the earth, the chalk seemed to misinterpret its purpose and transported all of whatever was inside whatever shape it was drawn in.

Taking out a piece and scrawling a quick circle, all it took was a quick and random destination, "Atlantic Ocean!" and in an emerald flash, a large section of the wall disappeared.

-[]-

Meanwhile on a small fishing boat south of the peninsula of the State of Florida, a family of Magical Cuban refugees worriedly scanned the waters behind them. They had escaped their homeland and "borrowed" the boat in an attempt to make a new life in America. The persecutions of Magical Cuba were becoming too much. But they knew that they were being followed. The husband and father of the group took out his Dahoon Holly wand and shot a revealing charm out over the waters.

What he saw, sank his heart to the bottom of the ocean.

Shimmering into sight as if it were a mere mirage was the _Coleccionista_. Its name spoke for itself. It collected any Cuban witch or wizard who tried to leave the country. To have a chance at reaching America, his family had to escape that ship.

And it seemed like the crew of the _Coleccionista_ had realized they'd been seen, as the patriarch could see wands being drawn and spells being readied.

No matter what happened, he would protect his family.

Suddenly, right above the Cuban ship, a flash of green brightened the sky. Gravity took over, and with a shout, the crew of the "collection" ship moved as fast as they could to avoid the giant piece of brick wall that had magically appeared. They were too slow.

The brick stonework dropped, and there was the screech of broken wood and shattering glass as it decimated the front end of the _Coleccionista_.

Firing an overpowered propulsion charm, the refugee patriarch didn't look back as the ship that would have returned his family to their nightmarish homeland sank, its crew performing rudimentary floating spells to avoid getting wet. Thanking God, the Holy Mother, and whoever decided at that moment to banish a brick wall, the family of refugees looked north, towards the horizon, and the promise of a better tomorrow.

-[]-

Back in London, under the church designated as All-Hallows-By-The-Tower, Harry now stared at a brick wall with a giant hole in it. His homemade chalk was _really_ powerful it turned out… the wall was two and a half meters thick, and the hole reached all of the way through.

Proud of his invention, Harry continued onward. He now seemed to be in a tunnel covered on either side by glowing glyphs. The light provided was just enough to see that at the end of the passageway was a broken wooden door. Upon closer inspection, Harry discovered that the door had been broken… recently.

This was bad. _'Sarras?'_ Harry questioned.

A moment of tense waiting followed as the magicked snake thought about the implications of the door. _'It may be nothing Harry. At thisss point in time, I can not sssay. But sssince the sssstairway _wasss_ charmed, and there _wasss_ a wall in the middle of a tunnel that _clearly_ did not belong there, I would be careful. Tread lightly.'_

With that advice, and a deep breath, Harry headed through doorway.

And into a chamber larger than anything he had seen in his entire life. The glyphs of this room pulsed and swam across the walls, making it seem like Harry was surrounded by waves of color and light.

At the center of the chamber, the floor curved downward, dipping into a hole that looked about two and a half meters wide. From the ceiling, the glyphs gathered and dispersed downward directly into the hole in sparkling blue-white beams.

Something important _HAD_ to be at the bottom of that hole.

Determined to find out what was so special about this place, Harry quickly made his way to the edge of the pit. Looking over the edge, he could see nothing due to the light cast by the falling glyphs.

'_Well, how are we supposed to get down there Sarras?' _Harry thought to his snake. _'I don't know about you but I don't know how to fly.'_

'_If you would pay attention to you sssurroundingssss, then you would have sssseen the ladder Harry.'_ The snake quipped back.

Feeling foolish for missing the obviously visible ironwork ladder, Harry sheepishly grabbed the first rung and began his decent. He really needed to be more observant. This whole adventure was riding on the hope that Tamara wouldn't be able to tell the difference between him and the paper-boy, but if he couldn't even think to look for a ladder, what hope did he have of fooling anyone much longer?

He could have left any number of clues to his plans and not even known it! After this adventure was done, he seriously needed to read some books about tactics and deception.

Coming out of his thoughts, Harry saw that he was nearing the bottom of the ladder. Stopping his decent, Harry thought about what to do next. He could just drop down and hope for a soft landing, or he could somehow get his head around to see what was below him first.

Knowing that the second option saw smarter and safer, Harry raised his legs a few steps up, locked them around the bottom most rungs and twisted himself until he was upside-down in a surprising act of acrobatics. Now he could see what was at the bottom of the hole… and it was amazing.

The light that was cast by the falling glyphs fell upon seven tilted mirrors at the bottom of the hole. From the mirrors, the light was redirected to other mirrors that were strategically placed throughout the chamber below. Added light glowed from floating torches that burned yellow, as if newly lit. The effect of all this being that Harry could see every inch of the chamber from his upside-down perch.

Honestly, it looked like the inside of a cathedral. There were overturned pews, stained embroidered carpets, and stained glass windows that even dark and underground looked magnificent and filled with colour. Looking around, Harry also saw the tell tale signs of arches in the ceiling and statues that looked like they belonged to churches.

Straining his eyes, Harry saw that miraculously, right under him, was a giant pile of pillows. Immediately, suspicion set in. There was no way that whoever made this place just happened to put up a brick wall right at the bottom of a magically hidden staircase _and_ leave a pile of pillows right under the only way into an underground cathedral.

Someone had been here before him.

They may _still_ be here!

Quietly, Harry let go of the ladder and in another acrobatic feat, contorted his body in mid air so that he would land on the cushiony pile with his butt. With an _UMPH!_, Harry hit the center of the pile. Immediately, he rolled to the right so that two mostly intact pews would cover him from the eyes of whoever put the pillows under the drop-off, if whoever it was really _was _still here.

Now hidden as well as he could be, Harry looked around the chamber from ground level. Right-side up, it was even more breathtakingly beautiful. From the ground, he could see the other end of the chamber, and why this place was hidden so well.

The wall opposite Harry, at the other end of the underground cathedral, was completely covered in shining metal pipes. The pipes lead all the way down and converged near the bottom of the wall. From there they fed into a large… was that an organ! What the heck was so special about an organ that… seemed… to… radiate… power…. Oh….

Suddenly, Harry heard voices echo from near the organ. They sounded rough and agitated.

"Whad da ya thin' we'll ge' fo som thin' like this Rodgers?" One voice rumbled out. One of the agitated voices responded.

"I don' know Burgus, the boss'll decide… the real damn problem is 'ow to ge' i' above the bloody groun'!" Numerous grumbles agreed to this. It seemed that whoever these guys were, they had come for the organ, and there were a lot of them. Smugglers maybe? Before Harry's mind could think very hard on who these men were, the pew he had been leaning on as he eavesdropped on them cracked, splintered, and collapsed in a shower of rotten wooden planks and rusted iron nails.

"Wha' was that? Grun, Hurns… go check i' out!"

'_Oh SHIT!'_ Harry shouted in his head. _'Stupid pew! Bloody hell, now they're coming after me!'_

'_Harry! There is no need to ussssse sssuch vulgar language.' _Sarras admonished the startled youth. _'Oh, and two thuggish looking brutesss are headed thisss way…'_

Looking, Harry saw two men lumbering down the aisle towards him. They looked particularly brutish, with dirty, torn, and patched clothes. Not to mention they were both easily six feet something tall. The cumulative effect was very frightening for a nine year old to face. So Harry did what any natural, or magical, child would do when scared, he ran. Or would have, but he had no where to go.

'_Harry… Look up!'_ Sarras hissed in Harry's head. In a panic, Harry looked up and saw that the hole that he had dropped from was right above him.

'_Great, now… HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET UP THERE!'_

'_Think Harry!'_ Was his only reply.

The thugs were getting closer, and a cry of, "There! I's a boy! Ge' 'im!", made it clear they had seen him.

Think. Think. Think. THINK! Think what! In a sudden, fear induced burst of rage, Harry kicked out at the nearest pew.

And was shocked when his magic coursed through his leg and exploded against the wooden structure. The pew, which was not tied to the floor, flew through the air directly towards the thugs coming towards Harry. The two only got off short squeals of shock before the wooden object unexpectedly crashed into them.

Upon seeing the two men go down, the thug named Rodgers ordered the rest of the men with him to go after this obviously magical boy.

'_Well, that might work.'_ Harry thought, ignoring for the moment the six new brutes heading towards him. Bending his knees, Harry concentrated into putting all the energy he could muster into his legs. Then, he released it.

And shot up like a rocket.

"WooooooHOOO!" Harry flew upwards at breakneck speed, just barely missing the edge of the hole the ladder was attached to.

Easily reaching the top, Harry crawled over the edge just in time to avoid three glowing red balls of light as they shot past the space where his head was only moments ago.

"Missed, damn i' all ta hell an back! A'rite boys, we need ta ge' tha' runt. He saw the merchandise, so 'e knows too much." Rodgers said. "Som' one check on Grun an Hurns. I'll be rebuildin the res o' the ladder tha' we destroyed on our way down."

Hoping that the… whoever the brutes were… would be preoccupied for a little bit, Harry raced up the spiraled staircase.

And raced…

And raced…

And raced…

'_Man! You'd think that being chased by these crazies would make the stairs go by faster, but no-o!'_ Harry thought furiously as his legs began to burn from the sudden exertion of the climb.

'_Harry, lesssss whining more running.'_ Sarras thought back.

Refocusing on his escape, Harry looked ahead of him and saw the half-in half-out step, the sign that the stairway was almost done. Holding his breath, Harry burst out of the underground portion of the stairway and into the blinding sunlight that filled All-Hallows-By-The-Tower.

Ignoring all of the people that were shocked at his sudden appearance, and his terrified face, Harry left the church and ran down the street. Before he turned down the adjacent street he heard an explosion and shouts coming from behind him. Looking, his stomach sank.

The six thugs that had started after him in the underground cathedral had somehow blasted the doors of the church to pieces and were shoving aside bystanders as they chased after him. The two that he had unintentionally hit with the pew were staggering after their comrades, obviously still in pain.

Shocked that the men were so close, Harry turned and ran down the street. Bits of his favorite adventure movies flashed through his mind as he was running. Maybe if he did what the heroes in those did, he'd be able to escape. It was worth a shot.

Harry blindly turned down an alley, then another. Stomping behind him, he could hear three of the eight men breathing heavily as the act of running took its toll on their out of shape bodies. Turning again, Harry passed a large, green recycling bin made out of metal. Pushing his magic through his arms like he had his legs, Harry shoved the recycling bin.

Turning his back on the curses of his chasers as they dodges the flying metal box, Harry took off again. Rushing down whatever street alley he now found himself on, Harry began to slow down. Had he lost them? Had they given up?

A sudden flash of teal light flared from around the corner and struck Harry in the chest. Surprised, but unharmed, Harry turned to look at the out of breath form of the thug named Rodgers as he came down the alley, a strange stick of wood in his hand pointed at Harry.

"You are a 'ard brat ta find ya know? Now i's time ta come with- Hey what are ya doin'!" While Rodgers had been speaking, Harry had grabbed another piece of his Floo Chalk and drawn a wobbly circle around himself.

Harry needed to get away, **now**. Where could he go? He didn't know London too well. The only place he knew for sure was where Annette's modeling place was. But he couldn't go there, if Annette saw him, she'd kill him! With no better place to call for, he settled for another street in the City of London.

"Fleet Street!" Harry whispered fiercely, so that Rodgers couldn't hear him. And a flash of emerald fire, the chalk transported him there.

Eyes wide, Rodgers couldn't believe what he had just seen. Some brat had found his way to the underground cathedral, seen them with the organ, and then escaped after injuring two of his men. After chasing him above ground, the damn brat had out run all of his men, and then somehow used the Floo with no fireplace! Who was this kid?

Rodgers, not used to such physical exertion, had to stop and catch his breath. In moments, the rest of his men, minus Grun and Hurns, had caught up with him, asking if he had cornered the brat. He answered he had, but the brat had somehow disappeared. He didn't want his men to know that the kid had somehow Flooed out. He'd rather be called a butterfingers for letting the brat escape than a crazy for saying he used the Floo when he could not have.

When Rodgers had caught his breath, he smiled maliciously. The brat thought that he had gotten away did he? Well, the one spell he'd gotten off on the kid was his group's specialized tracker charm. With an adapted _Point Me_ spell, Rodgers felt his wand yank towards Fleet Street. His smile got even more sinister, the brat had only moved himself even closer to HQ.

"Al'rite boys, le's go! The brat is on Fleet Street. 'Ere's what we're gonna do…"

-[]-

In a flash of green, Harry stood on Fleet Street, and immediately collapsed onto the nearest bench. That… was close. Whoever those guys were, they must be like him, because no one could have blasted the doors off of that church without magic. And this lead Harry to wonder, did other magic users use their powers so dangerously?

What if they hunted down other users? What if there was a war going on? What if his actions had put himself in danger?

Harry's blood suddenly froze.

What if he had put Annette and Tamara in danger!

Before Harry's overactive imagination could create anymore terror for his young mind, the world flashed many colors.

"**REPELLO MUGGLETUM!" **An orange wave seemed to cover area, and suddenly the people around Harry were turning away and muttering about meetings and appointments they weren't moments ago.

"**LOCOMOTOR MORTIS!"** Harry tried to stand up to see what was going on, but a dark blue jet of light hit his legs and they wouldn't move or separate.

"**INCARCEROUS!" **Suddenly, a flash of neon green and ropes were wrapping tightly around his arms and legs, restraining him.

"**OBSCURO!" **The world went dark as a blindfold shot across his vision and blinded him.

Harry was helpless. And if the surrounding people were anything to go by, no one was going to help him.

"Ha! Thought ya could escape from us with yer fancy magic ehh brat?"

'_Rodgers! Oh no, they got me! How'd they know where I was?'_ Harry thought. _'What are they gonna do with me?'_

"Hehe, well brat, love ta chat, but the boys an I are takin' ya to the bossman. You saw the new job, so-s we can't be lettin' you run around. 'Ave a nice nap."

That last confused Harry until he heard Rodgers say, **"Stupefy"**, and all he could see a red light through the blindfold. Then, he knew nothing.

-[]-

The first thing that told Harry he was awake was that his shoulders, wrists, and legs hurt. He still couldn't see, which told him that the blindfold was still on and that Rodgers and his gang felt that wherever they were was important. After a few minutes the discomfort was enough to kill off the grogginess that he had felt initially.

Instinctually, Harry began to test his range of motion, to see if his bonds were still there. Unfortunately, they were.

"Ahhhhhhhh…. The young master finally decides to join us does he?" A new voice asked. This voice sounded cultured, but hard, like a businessman that gave no quarter, or Annette's agent.

"Rodgers, would you be so kind as to remove the blindfold please? I believe that your men sufficiently… incapacitated him." The voice continued.

"Yessir." Rodgers answered. Harry felt the blindfold being tugged at, and then he could see. The world was blurry, but Harry could sort of see a very large blob in front of him. Then another blob moved from his right and went to stand behind the first blob.

As Harry blinked repeatedly, his vision slowly returned to normal. The blob in front of him turned out to be a very big man. He was dressed in a sharp, coal black suit. His brown hair was combed back over his head, and he wore a huge silver wristwatch on his right arm. Rodgers, in much nicer attire than when he had last seen him, was the blob behind him. The thing that stopped Harry though about the sitting man was his eyes.

They were black, so black that you couldn't tell where the pupil ended and the iris began. And they were cold. Even with the enormous smile that sat on his face, his eyes were so frigid and dead looking that Harry immediately felt ill at ease.

"Well now, are you quite done? You look like you're about to sneeze!" The man said. "Let's dispense with introductions then shall we?"

"In following with good manners and tradition, I shall tell you my name first. I am Blaxton Melrose, Mr. Blaxton Melrose. The man you see behind me if you hadn't already found out, is Roly Rodgers. Don't laugh or he may punch you regardless of my orders… Now, you are?" The now revealed Blaxton Melrose asked.

"Harry…" Harry answered. If he played this right, he may get his arms untied. Then all he needed to do was get his chalk from his bag, and he'd be gone in a flash. Mr. Melrose raise an eyebrow at his response.

"Harry? Harry… what? You do have a last name don't you young man?" _'Time to begin'_, Harry thought.

"I'd tell you, but it seems that my arms and legs are still tied Mr. Melrose. I don't think I'd like to get too comfortable with someone who keeps me bound. Trust and all that you understand." Harry said. The reaction from Melrose though, was not one Harry expected. He laughed. And when he stopped, his smile wasn't as warm as it had seemed earlier, and his eyes had grown even colder.

"Well Harry, while I'd love to have you untied, we treated the young lady beside you with the same generosity and she immediately tried to escape. Since we couldn't have that, unfortunately you won't get free."

'_Girl?'_ Harry looked to his left and saw a girl sitting there, tied up in ropes just as he seemed to be. She looked to be around Harry's age, with bright, blonde hair and near glowing amethyst eyes. The girl was looking at Melrose with a look of absolute hate on her face, but turned to look at Harry when she felt his eyes upon her.

"Daphne Greengrass. Charmed." She said, then went right back to glaring at Melrose. Seeing her look, Melrose raised his arms in mock surrender.

"Now Miss Greengrass, I told you when you first came here, there is no reason to be so upset. We are merely holding you until your father pays what he owes us. The unpleasantries so far have been completely faults of your own."

"My fault?" The girl, Daphne, asked. "You are nothing more than a criminal lowlife who has kidnapped me to ransom money from Father. He owes you nothing, and that's what you'll get!" Mumbles followed, but were neither audible nor fit to be recalled. Melrose looked the same, cold eyes and a big smile.

"But Miss Greengrass, we have you, and that means that your father _does _owe us. He owes us whatever we want!" Any thought Harry had that Blaxton Melrose was even remotely safe went out the window. Melrose turned and looked at Harry, who looked confused, now completely ignoring Daphne.

"You see Harry, I am the head of a very big organization. And that organization needs funds, a lot of them. So I began to think, what would be better than getting money from an Ancient and Noble House such as the Greengrasses? They have the means to keep every transaction quiet, so the law would be no problem, and enough money to keep us going for years! The only problem was motive."

"Yeah, why would my family risk helping scum like you and the Melrose crime family when we held off against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and didn't take his mark?" Daphne butted in. "You're all nothing but crooks and murderers, we wouldn't even associate with bottom feeders like you."

"Yes. I know that." Melrose said slowly, his tone growing dangerous. "The mighty House of Greengrass would never even consider helping my family, and that is why you are here young Miss Greengrass. As your father's eldest daughter, your safety is one of his highest priorities." Melrose paused before continuing.

"So I am sure that he will break at soon. And if he does not, then I will send a note stating that further resistance will result in your enrollment in one of our Girl's Only Houses. And I'm sure that even the illustrious House of Greengrass knows what goes on there."

Harry, who had been looking back and forth between speakers during this conversation, caught the look of horror and fear that flickered in the Greengrass girl's eyes before she mastered her expression. Whatever the Girl's Only Houses were, they were sufficiently frightening to put fear into the otherwise fierce girl.

Looking around the room, Harry began to block out the conversation going on around him, as it had dissolved into Daphne denying her family's involvement, regardless of what happened to her, and Melrose's continued smug assurance of their capitulation. He saw a lot of pipes, and a fan built into the side of one wall near the ceiling. The walls were bare, and the only furniture around was the chairs that Harry, Daphne, and Blaxton Melrose sat in.

After another twenty minutes of back and forth between Daphne and Melrose, the crime boss stood with a sigh. "Well Miss Greengrass, although I applaud your loyalty to your family, I must insist that they will eventually see my way of thinking. Your state of being though, is the only variable in this situation. I would advice you to pray that your father sees the light, so to speak, or else begin to think of an appropriate pseudo-name for your stay at the Girls Only House." He looked at Harry, "I will stop by later tonight to see how our new guest is doing, and if he will divulge how exactly he found his way to our newest… operation. Good day."

With that, Melrose left the room, ordering Rodgers to stand guard outside the room, just in case.

* * *

…Twenty minutes passed. Harry tried to silently gain Daphne's attention.

…Forty minutes passed. Daphne finally turned enough to notice Harry's efforts. He was shocked to find that she had been sobbing quietly. Melrose's veiled threats must have gotten to her more than she let on.

"Sooooooo… Do you have any way to defend yourself if I can get us out of this mess?" Harry whispered quietly. Daphne nodded slowly, suspicious.

"I have my grandmother's wand… or I did, before Melrose threw it into the corner over there." Daphne nodded to the left-hand corner of the room. "But I can't get it unless I cast a spell, and if I do that, then that brute outside would hear me and come in." Harry thought about this for a second.

"Okay, so I need to create a big enough distraction to preoccupy old Roly long enough for you to get your… wand? Really, a wand? Whatever, if you think it will work." Daphne looked affronted at Harry's dismissal of her grandmother's wand.

"Of course it will work! Merlin's beard! If Melrose has you all wrapped like me then you must be a danger. And the only way he'd see you as a danger is if you had magic." She whispered furiously to Harry.

"So everyone here has it then?" Harry asked skeptically.

"Well duh! How do you think you got tied up so fast, or we seem to be able to see in this room with no lights on, or Melrose expects my family to pay him… not that they ever will… without the authorities getting mixed up in it? Jeez, do you live under a rock?" She answered.

Seeing the logic, however impossible it seemed, Harry sighed. He began to gather his magic, readying it to make a distraction, a very big distraction.

"Alright, close your eyes, and I hope you don't mind getting wet."

"What! What are you-"

'_Harry, what are you going to do?'_ Sarras asked, slightly afraid of the build up in his master.

Harry felt the magic build to a peak, and let it out all at once.

"**AGUAMENTI!"**

Every pipe in the room exploded. Water rushed everywhere, swirling around Harry and Daphne as if not allowed to touch them. Harry was having trouble controlling the sudden burst, he hadn't thought _every_ pipe in the whole freaking room was a water pipe.

"What's that noise? Oi in there! What are you-" Rodgers, hearing Harry cast the overpowered charm, and the resulting explosions, opened the door to the room, only to be blasted back into the hallway by a torrent of water, directed by Harry.

"Daphne! Now, get your stick-I mean, wand!" Harry shouted.

"**ACCIO 'Grandmother's Wand'!"** Daphne called. Harry saw a stick leap out of the water on the floor, answering the call. It flew straight into Daphne's hand.

"**FINITE INCANTATEM!" **The ropes binding Harry and Daphne dissolved into motes of light and Harry felt his legs become unstuck.

"Okay, now what?" Daphne asked. She looked ragged. The ropes had obviously been very tight against her.

"Come on. Follow me!" Harry responded, grabbing her hand. He sped into the hallway, looking for either an open door or an unlocked one.

"Come on, come on! Is there no room in this bloody place that's open!" Harry shouted, panic again setting in. He could hear men running around above them and down surrounding hallways, responding to the noises of their escape.

"Oh Morgana!" Daphne exclaimed, exasperated with her would-be rescuer. Turning to a door Harry had already tried, she pointed to its handle with her wand and said, **"Alohomora."** Much more in control of her voice than earlier. Pushing the now unlocked door open, she dragged a surprised Harry behind her.

"Okay, I'll ask again. Now what?" Daphne repeated. This time, Harry had a response.

"Stand back for a sec. Need something from my bag." Harry swung his pack around and dug until he found the plastic bag he had stashed his Floo Chalk in. Taking out a long piece, he began to draw a large circle around himself and Daphne.

"What are you doing? A circle of chalk isn't going to do anything for us!" Daphne shouted.

"Just relax. This will work. Trust me." Harry reassured her as he finished the circle. Then he ran into the same problem he had faced earlier against Rodgers and his gang. "Quick, I need a place to go!"

"What? What will that do?" Daphne yelled, confused by Harry's seemingly random request. This was not the time to ask for a vacation destination!

"Just… Tell me the name of that tower I saw over in Westminster when I was on Fleet Street. Trust me!" Harry yelled back.

"Um… Tower?" Daphne racked her brains for what tower he was talking about. She was from a high-class family for Merlin's sake, they kept no stock in muggle construction. Then, a stray thought ignited, maybe she had heard about that tower. Something her father had said about it being really tall by muggle standards. What was its name again?

"Oh! You mean the National Westminster Tower?" Daphne said. That was it!

"Good. Okay, hold on to me!" Seeing the look his companion was giving him, Harry tried again. "Come on! Its just so we don't get separated."

The decision was taken out of Daphne's hands when the two fugitive magical kids heard voices right outside of the door. Acting quickly, Harry grabbed onto Daphne's arms and shouted out where he wanted the chalk to take them.

"Top of the National Westminster Tower!"

A great flash of emerald fire exploded in the room, and suddenly, Harry and Daphne found themselves on the top of the National Westminster Tower.

* * *

**(FLASHBACK END)**

It had been three hours since the escape from the hands of Melrose and his men. The two children had sat at the top of the tower, looking around at the sights they could see. It seemed like all of London was below them. Turning, Daphne Greengrass studied the boy that had helped her escape a fate worse than death.

"So Harry, you told Melrose you wouldn't tell him your full name because of "trust issues". Do you trust me enough to tell me who you are? And how that chalk got us here?" She asked, curious to know more about her 'Knight in Dripping Armor". Harry thought for a second before shrugging.

"I guess. I mean, you _were _tied up just like I was. And Melrose was threatening you and your family." Harry started. Turning to Daphne, he grabbed her hand and shook it up and down.

"I am pleased to meet you Daphne Greengrass. My name is Harry. Harry Potter."

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**Read... for reading is good.**

**Review... for reviewing and leaving constructive critisism is good.**

**The long time in between updates was because constructive reviews were few and far between.**

**For the curious reviewer who asked why we are 'we', our name is self explainatory **


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